Are we able to say that life is governed by a group of conscious people? In fact, we see exactly the opposite: that life is governed by those who are the least conscious, by those who are most asleep.

G. I. Gurdjieff believed that two hundred conscious people could change the whole of life on the earth. Yet, according to Gurdjieff, the wars raging at this very moment are nothing more than millions of sleeping people trying to annihilate millions of other sleeping people. With the help of self-knowledge and an understanding of our relation to the universe, we can become conscious and awaken to a higher level of being.

Provocative ideas such as these have attracted generations of thoughtful people to study his methods of self-study and inner work. All of Gurdjieff's fundamental principles and methods of transforming the intellect, emotions, and body, in the system known as the Fourth Way, are presented in this book in his own clear, precise words preserved by his closest pupils. Arranged in an orderly sequence of passages drawn from two primary source books--P. D. Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous, and Views from the Real World, recorded and arranged by Mme. Jeanne de Salzmann--this material is an indispensable introduction for those determined to undertake the efforts and practices necessary for awakening consciousness.