Bücher von P. D. Ouspensky

" No study of occult philosophy is possible without an acquaintance with symbolism, for if the words occultism and symbolism are correctly used, they mean almost one and the same thing. Symbolism cannot be learned as one learns to build bridges or speak a foreign language, and for the interpretation of symbols a special cast of mind is necessary; in addition to knowledge, special faculties, the power of creative thought and a developed imagination are required. One who understands the use of symbolism in the arts, knows, in a general way, what is meant by occult symbolism. But even then a special training of the mind is necessary, in order to comprehend the "language of the Initiates", and to express in this language the intuitions as they arise."

" In revising Tertium Organum for the second edition in English my chief concern has been to coördinate its terminology with the more developed terminology of those of my books written after the publication of the second Russian edition of Tertium organum , from which the English translation was made. Such a unity of terminology is the more necessary because I am obliged to lead the reader into regions of thought and knowledge where boundaries have not been clearly established, and where different authors and often one and the same author, in different works and during different periods of his activity have called the same thing by different names, or different things by the same name."

" In A New Model of the Universe, written in 1914 and now published for the first time in French, P.D. Ouspensky describes his own quest for a form of truth concerning questions as fundamental as the place of man in the universe, the unknown, the invisible world, starting from the idea, always, that true civilization only exists in esotericism, and that modern Western civilization suffers from a profound barbarism due to the absence of esoteric thought. Calling on Christianity, Judaism, Eastern philosophies, the symbolism of the Tarot, experimental mysticism, the study of dreams, hypnotism, yoga, but also the sciences and in particular ancient physics and modern, the author attempts to answer the following questions: what form does the world have? Is the world a chaos or a system? Does the universe exist by accident or was it created according to a plan? A new model of the Universe responds to a growing need in late 20th century man to question his origins and the meaning of his existence by having recourse to ancient beliefs and traditions...."

These lectures were intended by Ouspensky as introductory material for people interested in the work in England. This material is still unmatched as a brief statement of the work's psychological ideas. Designed to be read aloud at weekly meetings of small groups of people interested in the work, they are almost a basic primer of Gurdjieff's psychological ideas on consciousness and spiritual development. They were constantly revised as new groups came into existence and took their final form only after Ouspensky moved from London to New York, where he continued to teach from 1941 to 1947. The psychology Ouspensky sets forth in these introductory lectures has existed in one form or another for thousands of years and, unlike modern psychology, studies man from the point of view of what he may become. Once a man realizes how little control he has over his reactions to external circumstances and internal stimuli, he may wish to find a way to become free of this mechanical way of living. Ouspensky describes how a man must work simultaneously on his knowledge and his being to find inner unity and why although his development depends on his own efforts, this is very difficult to achieve without guidance from a school.¿

Die Psychologie, die Ouspensky in diesen Einführungs-Vorträgen erläutert, existiert in der einen oder anderen Form bereits seit Tausenden von Jahren. Im Gegensatz zur moderneren Psychologie betrachtet sie den Menschen von dem Gesichtspunkt aus, was er werden kann. Sobald ein Mensch einmal erkennt, wie wenig Kontrolle er über seine Reaktionen auf äußere Umstände und innere Reize besitzt, mag der Wunsch in ihm erwachen, einen Weg zu finden, sich von dieser mechanischen Lebensweise zu befreien. Ouspensky beschreibt, wie ein Mensch gleichzeitig an seinem Wissen und Sein arbeiten muß, um innere Einheit zu erlangen, und warum es sehr schwierig ist, sie ohne die Hilfe einer 'Schule' zu erreichen, auch wenn die Entwicklung von den eigenen Anstrengungen abhängt.Dies ist ein Quellenwerk ersten Ranges, ein Einführung zum 'Vierten Weg' aus erster Hand.

When Tertium Organum burst onto the New York literary scene its author, P. D. Ouspensky, was unaware of it. Piotr Demianovich Ouspensky, the most famous pupil of Greco-Armenian spiritual teacher George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, had written Kluck Kzaradkam (the original title) in his native Russian and it had been published in St. Petersburg in 1912. At the time of its New York debut his whereabouts were unknown.A Russian by the name of Nicholas Bessarabof had emigrated to America before the 1917 Russian Revolution and had taken the book with him. He gave a copy to architect Claude Bragdon who could read Russian and was interested in forth-dimensional consciousness. After reading the book a friend echoed Bragdons' sentiments saying; "He has recently discovered a young Russian who "seems to us remarkable in many ways." The man has introduced him to Ouspensky and his book on the fourth dimension called Tertium Organum. Bragdon believes this book to be the "long sought New Testament of the Sixth Race which will justify the meekness of the saint, the vision of the mystic, and create a new heaven and a new earth." He is currently collaborating with Bessarabof on an English translation."In 1920 without Ouspensky's knowledge, Bragdon and Bessarabof published the book in English through Manas Press in New York. Meanwhile Ouspensky, a journalist and destitute author, had arrived in Constantinople with hardly a penny to his name. Later that year he was gratified to receive a substantial royalty check, and the news that Tertium Organum was a publishing success in English, and that his fame in literary circles was assured.In 1921 he wrote, "This translation, made without my knowledge and participation, at a time when I was cut off by war and revolution from the civilized world, transmits my thought so exactly that after a very attentive review of the book I could find only one word to correct. Such a result could be achieved only because Mr. Bessarabof and Mr. Bragdon were not translating words merely, but were grasping directly my thoughts at the back of them."In May 1921 Ouspensky received the sum of £100 from Lady Rothermere who was in Rochester, New York; it was wired with the message: 'Deeply impressed by your book Tertium Organum - wish to meet you in New York or London - will pay all expenses.' This invitation gave Ouspensky the opportunity to move to England where he secured Gurdjieff's permission to write a book on his philosophy.Ouspensky spent the next twenty years in England lecturing and teaching Gurdjieff's ideas and developing his own philosophy. His lectures in London were attended by such literary figures as Aldous Huxley, T. S. Eliot, and other writers, journalists and doctors. His influence on the literary scene of the 1920's and 1930's as well as on the Russian avant-garde was huge but today he is not widely known.

The author combines advanced science and math with Eastern mysticism, symbols, art and Western spiritual traditions to create one of the most unique and interesting books one is likely to encounter. Ouspensky points the reader toward higher dimensional realities -- the fourth dimension and above -- while revealing how we can, in a sense, overcome our limited human perceptions that block our access to these higher worlds or planes of existence. An original and brilliant work that waits patiently to be discovered by modern and intelligent thinkers.