The Life & Significance of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Part I - Gurdjieff in Egypt: The Origin of Esoteric Knowledge

Patterson doesn't offer much more than thesis and spends most of the time celebrating himself or theorizing about some ancient Egyptian tribe and their beliefs.For Gurdjieff experts this is not worth a look, beginners will be much better off with his own books or Ouspensky's "Search for the Miraculous". I was deeply disappointed.

I am really surprised to the fact that this dvd and all the collection had a 5 stars ratings. I personally felt very dissapointed with the whole collection for several facts:- mom and pop basic edition. Basically a documentary produced with a handycam. On many occasion you get direct filming of a postcard.-constant and exasperating repetition of published text. The word "presand egyt" is probably said 20 times. But to say something 20 times does not give it any validation.- vague and not really valid affirmations. As an illustration, the water erosion theory, a not widely accepted system to calculate the age of the Great Sphinx is presented as the most widelly accepted. The aging is absurd. The author establish relationships between concepts but rarely demonstrate anything. The dvds do not offer any novel information. Read Gurdjieff books instead.

This series is so good, so important, that every high school student should see it. It's madness not to have it on DVD. It's fascinating and it's deep, posing problems that every voting American needs to consider, sooner or later. It reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, where he's being introduced to classical music through the cannons in the 1812 Overture: "Gee, I thought classical music was boring!"The setup is a knowledgeable moderator raises a difficult social issue, and a group answers and debates it. Several related topics are introduced in each episode. Debaters include ex-presidents, heads of major universities, etc.! Wozer! These people are impressively knowledgeable. It leaves you with a much elevated respect for the quality of thinking in the highest levels of the US government.

For those who have knowledge of and interest in Gurdjieff and his teaching, the Fourth Way, I would highly recommend the trilogy of DVD's, collectively titled The Life and Significance of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff. Patterson and his colleagues have managed to capture both flavor and substance in this important presentation and have contributed a unique addition to the body of works related to Gurdjieff and the Fourth Way.I found the first DVD Gurdjieff in Egypt to be particularly interesting and revealing. The source of the teaching Gurdjieff brought to the West has always been a subject of both interest and dispute. Many have sought to claim it for their own, from Sufism to the Orthodox Church. It is surprising that in doing so they ignore the little that Gurdjieff did state about the origins of the teaching; that its source was Egypt, not the Egypt we know but the one we do not know, pre sand Egypt. Patterson in a detailed and cogent manner presents the case for pre sand Egypt, always being careful to note where his opinions begin and the written, historical record ends. The ancient Egyptian religion is entered into and related to the Gurdjieff work in a very seamless manner. The DVD also presents some stunning visual impressions of the ancient temples and monuments of Egypt as well as a fair amount of the flavor of modern Egypt.

In this video, William Patrick Patterson presents the startling idea that the foundation of the Fourth Way is not (as is often supposed) Sufism, nor any contemporary esoteric teaching. Instead its source is Egypt, but "not the Egypt we know but from one which we do not know. This Egypt was in the same place as the other but it existed much earlier." And what is the source of this challenging proposition? Gurdjieff's own words, amplified through connections with ancient Egyptian "mythology." Patterson uses this idea as a platform, bolstered by remarkable on-the-scene footage of the Sphinx, the Valley of the Kings, the temple at Edfu, and the headwaters of the Nile, to explore the foundations of the Fourth Way, and to present many of the basic ideas in everyday language. This video provides new material with each viewing.By the way, I should add that I had viewed the VHS version some years ago. Though it was strong enough to win a Gold Award for Biography at the Houston Film Festival, the DVD edition has been completely re-edited to intensify the focus on the story line, and sharpen both the audio and video qualities, resulting in a complete revamping of the original.

I once went on a tour of Egypt, taking photos of everything I saw. It wasn't until several years later that I saw William Patrick Patterson's GURDJIEFF IN EGYPT, and realized how much I had missed by not knowing the significance of what I had seen. As I watched Patterson retrace Gurdjieff's steps during his historic quest, I was taken by the level of commitment to detail, and the wonderful background material offered in the video. Visually stunning, with remarkable sequences including the Winter Solstice sunrise, whether you've walked those ancient streets or not, you feel you have shared what Patterson is experiencing.