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Georgij Gurdjieff was born in Armenia around 1870. His questions—Who am I? Why am I here?—found no answers in religion or science. However, he suspected that truth lay in the past, within religious traditions and the mysterious myths and legends he had learned from his father, a traditional bard or “ashok.” Alongside like-minded companions, he embarked on a journey in search of truth, traveling through Asia and Africa, learning multiple languages, and acquiring numerous practical skills.
In 1912, he brought an unknown teaching to Moscow—neither a religion nor a philosophy, but a practical knowledge meant to be lived. He called this teaching the Fourth Way.
To follow the path Gurdjieff proposed, one must not believe in anything until it has been verified through direct experience. This is a path through life in which—gradually, as it cannot be done all at once—everything must be questioned: beliefs, assumptions, attitudes, and one’s entire perspective on life on Earth.
“Man is asleep,” Gurdjieff said, “he has no true consciousness or will. He is not free; everything just ‘happens’ to him. But he can become conscious and find his true place as a human being in creation, though this requires deep transformation.” Gurdjieff calls us to awaken: “Man’s possibilities are immense. You cannot even conceive of a shadow of what he is capable of achieving. But nothing can be accomplished in sleep.”
During the lecture, members of the G.I. Gurdjieff Association in Poland will share their experiences with the practice of the Work, which continues the tradition passed down by the direct successors of G.I. Gurdjieff’s teaching.
Róża Urban – a member of the Gurdjieff Association in Poland for 10 years. The organization aims to preserve the essence and integrity of all aspects of Gurdjieff’s teachings and continues the tradition of “The Work” within the community formed by the Group. This is achieved by practicing the methods of conscious experience of reality as taught by G.I. Gurdjieff, the Armenian philosopher and mystic.
Róża Urban is a graduate of the Painting Department at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and a marketing specialist with extensive experience in management and event organization.
Professionally, she coordinates projects promoting Kraków as a tourist destination while also engaging in artistic activities.
Her primary passion is Permaculture—for years, she has been exploring the principles of harmonious cooperation between humans and nature, developing synergistic agricultural systems based on crop diversity, natural productivity, and sustainable development. She applies this philosophy in designing her immediate surroundings.
Association website: http://www.gurdjieff.org.pl/
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