A summary of Gurdjieff’s teachings transcribed by Ouspensky in «The Fourth Way», reported here with reasonable but not arbitrary degrees of freedom.

«Gurdjieff on the telephone» is not a book in the standard sense as much as the selection of operating instructions for applying the teachings of the «Fourth Way» system. The absolute synthesis with which these are returned does not mean that full understanding of the system for awareness given by “The Fourth Way” is possible without studying the book entirely, which is recommended to be done.

“Gurdjieff on the phone” is not a shortcut, but a device of instructions. It can be used for simple reading, but its optimal use is as a meditation tool to be stabilized for at least a month, grafting the reading into the fresh mind in the morning, immediately upon awakening, according to the following dosage:

after having washed your hands and face and expelled the residual liquids, prepare a cup of hot water (it can be softened with tea, honey, barley);

after drinking it (as hot as possible), evaluate whether the expulsion phase has been completed, then take a sitting position and lip-read the instructions, trying to maintain a suitable posture, with an upright spine;

accompany each verse by inhaling before enunciating it; followed by breath holding for seven seconds after each utterance.

Each section for a week, every day. This job lasts a month.

Cover image: photo by George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, author unknown, public domain