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Fourth Way Literature Reviews
Fourth Way Literature ReviewsBook Review of "The Realized Idiot" by Bruno Martin, English edition
It is not surprising to me that it is a student of the late John G. Bennett's who has broken the ultimate Fourth Way taboo - publishing Gurdjieff's teachings on the "Science of Idiotism."**
Bruno Martin, a "teacher of the Gurdjieff-Method" of spiritual transformation for almost forty years, says in his new book, "The Realized Idiot," that: "With his “Science of the Idiots,” Gurdjieff has given a clue to the essential behavioural structures that people develop as they work on themselves on a path to self-realization.....The Idiots have something archetypal about them; they are elaborate paintings of a whole complex of characteristics and behavioural patterns that can be seen in everyone.” [The Realized Idiot, p. 52 - 53]
"Gurdjieff said that the science of idiotism was a mirror in which [a person could see him/herself]." [ibid, p. 35]
Martin has carefully collected the Idiotism teachings passed down from George Gurdjieff to his immediate disciples. Martin also had access to an unpublished manuscript by John Bennett, and has incorporated much material from those two main sources of the teachings.
For example, Gurdjieff, on the Squirming Idiot: "Gurdjieff: He will not realize that he is an Idiot. This Idiot comes to me and asks me for help. I prove him what kind of Idiot he is. He agrees: he’s an Idiot. Then he leaves me and ponders: ‘But why am I an idiot? Didn’t I buy something for 100 Dollars and sold it for 200? Therefore I’m not an idiot, Gurdjieff is an idiot.” p. 78 - 79
And Bennett, on the Enlightened Idiot: "The Enlightened Idiot overcomes great difficulties in order to acquire not more information but real knowledge. This work changes him, and he climbs up the scale of Idiotism until he becomes Enlightened. Enlightenment is the beginning of the path of working from being and not personality. At this stage, a person knows everything it is possible for him to know. He knows what he must do in order to reach real freedom. But he cannot do it." p. 91
Those materials alone would make the book worth buying, but there is a great deal more. Bruno Martin has acquired a real understanding of his own on the Science of Idiotism. For example, on the subject of my own idiot type - Hopeless Idiot, Martin had insights I had not arrived at myself and that I had never heard before, - although I have known my idiot-type since 1984 and I, too, have been exposed to the "Science of Idiotism."
For example, on the subject of Hopeless Idiot, he says: "A “Hopeless Idiot” will entangle himself in activities that are deviations [from] his aims." p. 53, and, " This Idiot is complacent in his hopeless feature, which he sometimes recognizes in himself. He identifies with his successful attainment of bits and pieces of real knowledge, although he does nothing with them." p. 75. (Ouch.)
And here is an excerpt from his remarks on the Square Idiot: "The common Square Idiot spends most of his time identified with things that aren’t his to worry about. Sometimes he identifies with imagined things, sometimes with real things. But always he is identified with things that are “very important.” This Idiot is always stressed and is constantly changing direction, rounding the corners furiously to follow another idea or have another opinion. However, it is at the corners that he can also slow down, either through the shock of need or a moment’s clarity, at which point he can break free of the square and change the course of his life." p. 83
He has thoughtful comments on the value of 'opening the door' to the public on the Idiotism teachings, for example: "A lot of candidates for the madhouse collect in the so-called “marketplace of the esoteric.” This is an important reason to make Gurdjieff’s teaching and especially the “Science of Idiotism” known. I think that the thought alone that one is an “Idiot” is very helpful when one follows a certain spiritual path, because it invites humor and humility, and makes the path and goal relative." p. 122
Martin has also put forward his theory that there are "many parallels and correspondences" between the Idiot Typology and one of the Tarot decks. [I am wary of this theory of his, and I have not accepted it as of this writing; but I cannot reject it out of hand as I have seen that Martin's understanding of the Idiotism teachings is, on the whole, superior to mine.]
He weaves all of the above together with his own real understanding of Idiotism theory and Sufi "teaching stories" which he has "recast them in accordance with [his] understanding of their meaning." p. 10.
George Gurdjieff always taught the Science of Idiotism during the course of a "Feast of the Idiots." Bruno Martin has worked intensively with that kind of a feast, and sets out both the reasoning behind the Feasts, as well as detailed instructions for planning and carrying out such a Feast.
I consider 'The Realized Idiot' to be a unique and invaluable contribution to Fourth Way literature and the Gurdjieff teachings. It is not prohibitively expensive ($20.00 USD plus S & H, as of this writing). The publisher, Bennett Books, is very reliable. I received my copy here in Canada about ten days after I ordered it.
Ordering info:
http://www.bennettbooks.org/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Stor...
It is not surprising to me that it is a student of the late John G. Bennett's who has broken the ultimate Fourth Way taboo - publishing Gurdjieff's teachings on the "Science of Idiotism."**
Bruno Martin, a "teacher of the Gurdjieff-Method" of spiritual transformation for almost forty years, says in his new book, "The Realized Idiot," that: "With his “Science of the Idiots,” Gurdjieff has given a clue to the essential behavioural structures that people develop as they work on themselves on a path to self-realization.....The Idiots have something archetypal about them; they are elaborate paintings of a whole complex of characteristics and behavioural patterns that can be seen in everyone.” [The Realized Idiot, p. 52 - 53]
"Gurdjieff said that the science of idiotism was a mirror in which [a person could see him/herself]." [ibid, p. 35]
Martin has carefully collected the Idiotism teachings passed down from George Gurdjieff to his immediate disciples. Martin also had access to an unpublished manuscript by John Bennett, and has incorporated much material from those two main sources of the teachings.
For example, Gurdjieff, on the Squirming Idiot: "Gurdjieff: He will not realize that he is an Idiot. This Idiot comes to me and asks me for help. I prove him what kind of Idiot he is. He agrees: he’s an Idiot. Then he leaves me and ponders: ‘But why am I an idiot? Didn’t I buy something for 100 Dollars and sold it for 200? Therefore I’m not an idiot, Gurdjieff is an idiot.” p. 78 - 79
And Bennett, on the Enlightened Idiot: "The Enlightened Idiot overcomes great difficulties in order to acquire not more information but real knowledge. This work changes him, and he climbs up the scale of Idiotism until he becomes Enlightened. Enlightenment is the beginning of the path of working from being and not personality. At this stage, a person knows everything it is possible for him to know. He knows what he must do in order to reach real freedom. But he cannot do it." p. 91
Those materials alone would make the book worth buying, but there is a great deal more. Bruno Martin has acquired a real understanding of his own on the Science of Idiotism. For example, on the subject of my own idiot type - Hopeless Idiot, Martin had insights I had not arrived at myself and that I had never heard before, - although I have known my idiot-type since 1984 and I, too, have been exposed to the "Science of Idiotism."
For example, on the subject of Hopeless Idiot, he says: "A “Hopeless Idiot” will entangle himself in activities that are deviations [from] his aims." p. 53, and, " This Idiot is complacent in his hopeless feature, which he sometimes recognizes in himself. He identifies with his successful attainment of bits and pieces of real knowledge, although he does nothing with them." p. 75. (Ouch.)
And here is an excerpt from his remarks on the Square Idiot: "The common Square Idiot spends most of his time identified with things that aren’t his to worry about. Sometimes he identifies with imagined things, sometimes with real things. But always he is identified with things that are “very important.” This Idiot is always stressed and is constantly changing direction, rounding the corners furiously to follow another idea or have another opinion. However, it is at the corners that he can also slow down, either through the shock of need or a moment’s clarity, at which point he can break free of the square and change the course of his life." p. 83
He has thoughtful comments on the value of 'opening the door' to the public on the Idiotism teachings, for example: "A lot of candidates for the madhouse collect in the so-called “marketplace of the esoteric.” This is an important reason to make Gurdjieff’s teaching and especially the “Science of Idiotism” known. I think that the thought alone that one is an “Idiot” is very helpful when one follows a certain spiritual path, because it invites humor and humility, and makes the path and goal relative." p. 122
Martin has also put forward his theory that there are "many parallels and correspondences" between the Idiot Typology and one of the Tarot decks. [I am wary of this theory of his, and I have not accepted it as of this writing; but I cannot reject it out of hand as I have seen that Martin's understanding of the Idiotism teachings is, on the whole, superior to mine.]
He weaves all of the above together with his own real understanding of Idiotism theory and Sufi "teaching stories" which he has "recast them in accordance with [his] understanding of their meaning." p. 10.
George Gurdjieff always taught the Science of Idiotism during the course of a "Feast of the Idiots." Bruno Martin has worked intensively with that kind of a feast, and sets out both the reasoning behind the Feasts, as well as detailed instructions for planning and carrying out such a Feast.
I consider 'The Realized Idiot' to be a unique and invaluable contribution to Fourth Way literature and the Gurdjieff teachings. It is not prohibitively expensive ($20.00 USD plus S & H, as of this writing). The publisher, Bennett Books, is very reliable. I received my copy here in Canada about ten days after I ordered it.
Ordering info:
http://www.bennettbooks.org/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Stor...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Marnie Tunay on
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I had posted the above review of Bruno Martin's book on another Fourth Way forum as well, http://fourthwayforum.ning.com.
One of the other members on that forum, (who may not want me to identify him here, so I won't), replied with a suggestion that I check out another source of knowledge on Idiotism: the materials from the 2006 'All & Everything Conference' held within the proceedings of the 11th International Humanities Conference. I have done so. The conference materials on Idiotism are excellent, and complement, for the most part, Bruno Martin's book, 'The Realized Idiot.' There are 17 pages of quotes from Gurdjieff and from John Bennett,* mostly from unpublished sources. 'The Realized Idiot' and the '2006 All & Everything Conference's Appendix on Idiotism together make up what is probably the totality of written knowledge on the subject.
There is also a great deal of other material from the All & Everything proceedings, mostly regarding, surprise!, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson. There is also some brief but interesting material on 'examples of objective music,' as well as other content on 'objective science,' 'Meetings with Remarkable Men,' and more.
The Conference materials may be purchased as a printed package, or as a PDF download for about $15.00 CDN, at the URL:
http://www.aandeconference.org/proceedings2006.html
*(BTW, the presenter was unsure if one of the unpublished sources, attributed to Bennett, was in fact written by him. Bruno Martin quotes from the same manuscript in his book, and attributes it to Bennett. As a close and long-time Fourth Way student of Bennett's, it's my opinion that Bruno is in a good position to assess the genuineness of the attribution to Bennett.)
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Permalink Reply by Avada Kedavra Crucio on -
I did find out in Lulu.com the best book about the Gurdjieff’s teachings, this book gives the theory and practices -exercises- for all the three conscious shocks and more, in addition they offer assistance. Its title is ‘The Sly Man’s Bible’ by ‘risdglandor’, I am reading it and I think it is really good.
Please, send me back your own opinion about this book.
Avadakedavracrucio0@gmail.com
I want to share ideas.
Thanks
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Hello, Avada. I don't know this book, and I've never heard of its author. After I saw your inquiries about it, I checked it out to the degree I was able to on Lulu.com. I note that it is advertised as being of "the Left Hand," meaning, being a hand-book of black magic. I was unable to learn anything about the author, who is listed as being one 'Carlos Berrena Sack.'
Perhaps you would like to do a descriptive review of the book as a blog-post, here? Also, I would be happy to try to answer any questions you have regarding any topic in the book, or claims made by the author, regarding Gurdjieff, black magic, or others.
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Permalink Reply by Randolph Moore on -
From strictly the aspect of etiology: ID-io-t is an expression of intelligence differential in IO (reflection) at a crossing (T) or interface. Most do not seem to wish to face up to this beast! Is it like an image in a dim Mir? We could go a long way with this one.
Consider that Joseph Smith translated the Golden Tablets (?) into the books that we know as Mormon ... and prompley called them mooron ... was this in hopes of expansion or improvement in their present state? It has to raise the haires (Eire) on one's head to some form of self awareness ... but fails a great deal when we say we know it all and don't even know that application of a small bit as numina over the infinite denominator ... nothing in essence ... like love in the existing state such a concept is a rare burr'd. The Celtic aboriginals seemed to have a grasp like many other aboriginal peoples ... do present tense angst try to erradicate those that attempt to think and know ... as tools of the devil ... opposite forum to God? It is an impossible dream but should a mortal attempt to know the infinite case? Devilish question eh! It is said that peoples in the wilderness (Aramaic) had a better idea about nothing and the infinite than Roman types. What sort of roll models do modern people follow? That has to make powers in the upper tiers giggle like d'mons ... then mons is a swelling like Buddha of a Roues about to burst ... overgrown state?
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