Meetings with Remarkable Men

"Meetings with Remarkable Men" is the second volume of the "All and Everything" trilogy written by the Greek-Armenian mystic G. I. Gurdjieff, as well as G. I. Gurdjieff's personal autobiography. It was originally published in 1963. It tells the tale of a young Gurdjieff growing up in a world torn between his unexplainable experiences and the developing modern sciences.

The book takes the form of Gurdjieff's reminiscences about various "remarkable men" that he has met, beginning with his father. They include the Armenian priest Pogossian; his friend Soloviev, Prince Lubovedsky, a Russian prince with metaphysical interests, and a couple of others.

In the course of describing these characters, Gurdjieff weaves their stories into the story of his own travels, and also into an overarching narrative which has them cooperate in locating spiritual texts and/or masters in various lands (mostly Central Asia). Gurdjieff calls this group the "Seekers of Truth".

Most of them do in fact find "truth" in the form of some suitable spiritual destiny. The underlying philosophy, especially as articulated in an appendix, amounts to the assertion that people generally live their lives asleep, are unconscious of themselves, and accordingly behave like machines, subject to outside causes and pressures. Also, one of the chief assessments of the novel is that the people of the past epochs lived in more suitable outer conditions and at higher inner levels than the people today. Many additional hidden harmonies are noted or alluded to.

These contradictory towards modern beliefs claims have inspired some to question the book's "autobiographical" character. For example, Gurdjieff claims to have first heard the Epic of Gilgamesh as an oral epic sung from memory by his father; to have made contact with various ancient brotherhoods including the Sarmoung Brotherhood; to have copied a map of "pre-sand Egypt", and to have witnessed a number of miracles and esoteric phenomena. There is currently in existence an esoteric group of loosely affiliated individuals who engage in what is called "The Work", which is the doing part of Gurdjieff's teachings.

In a way it can be claimed that many of the vignettes in "Meetings" are meant to be symbolic, or "teaching stories".

Film version

Infobox Film
name = Meetings with Remarkable Men


image_size =
caption = VHS cover
director = Peter Brook
producer = Stuart Lyons
writer = G. I. Gurdjieff (book)
Peter Brook
narrator =
starring = Dragan Maksimovic
music = Laurence Rosenthal
cinematography = Gilbert Taylor
editing = John Jympson
distributor = Enterprise Pictures Ltd
released = 1979
runtime = 108 min.
country = U.K.
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:32094
imdb_id = 0079542The book was made into a 1979 feature film directed by Peter Brook. Shot on location in Afghanistan (except for dance sequences, which were filmed in England), it starred Terence Stamp, and Dragan Maksimovic as the adult Gurdjieff.

The "plot" (to the extent that the film can be said to have a plot) involves Gurdjieff and his companions' search for truth in a series of dialogues and vignettes, much as in the book. Unlike the book, these result in a definite climax—Gurdjieff's initiation into the mysterious Sarmoung Brotherhood. The film is noteworthy for making public some glimpses of the "Gurdjieff movements".

elected cast

*Dragan Maksimovic as G. I. Gurdjieff
*Terence Stamp as Prince Lubovedsky
*Athol Fugard as Professor Skridlov
*Gerry Sundquist as Karpenko
*Donald Sumpter as Pogossian
*Mikica Dimitrijevic as Young Gurdjieff
*Warren Mitchell as Gurdjieff's Father
*Tom Fleming as Father Giovanni
*Fabijan Sovagovic as Dervish
*Bruce Purchase as Father Maxim

External links

*imdb title|id=0079542|title=Meetings with Remarkable Men
*amg title|id=1:32094|title=Meetings with Remarkable Men
* [http://www.brookdvd.com Details and slideshow on the film + DVD release]