Forthcoming Spring 2005

Two brief extracts from
Seymour B. Ginsburg's Gurdjieff Unveiled relating to:

The importance of accessing the unconscious

'Whether the study of dreams is truly a part of Gurdjieff's teaching is controversial. This is because of two talks Gurdjieff gave in 1923 and 1924, in which he mentioned dreams (Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World, 115-123). Confusion about what Gurdjieff meant in these talks have turned many students away from the study of their dreams. This is unfortunate because a close examination of Gurdjieff's teaching reveals the importance he attached to the need to access the subconscious. The most widely used tool for this purpose is the interpretation of symbolism in dreams, and the discerning student will want to avail him or herself of this important tool. The use of this tool is not new, and accounts of dream interpretation go back thousands of years. One need only look at The Old Testament to discover their wide use in biblical times.'

The development of a dream theory

'It is known that Gurdjieff talked privately with some pupils, such as Margaret Anderson, about the use of dream symbols to access the subconscious. Other pupils like Maurice Nicoll have come forward to affirm their importance. But we have no published accounts of specific instruction that Gurdjieff gave to particular students about how to go about the study of dreams.

We turn, therefore, to a follower and exponent of Gurdjieff's teaching, Sri Madhava Ashish (1920-1997) who, together with his mentor, Sri Krishna Prem (1897-1965), developed esoteric dream analysis theory, based upon Gurdjieffian teaching and Jungian psychological principles.'

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