Mr. Nyland was known for his clarity and seriousness as an early student of Gurdjieff in America. He applied Gurdjieff’s teaching in his life and reached a level of development recognized by all who met him. He always placed the emphasis on Gurdjieff’s own teachings and books, with little reliance on secondary material. In particular, he stressed the importance of making efforts to understand All and Everything, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, and insisted that the book be read three times exactly as Gurdjieff indicated. He also taught the specific methods for Working on oneself which he had learned from A. R. Orage and later Gurdjieff, and that it was necessary to actually apply Gurdjieff’s methods of Work in daily life rather than merely thinking and feeling about the ideas.
Author/Artist: Willem Nyland
Publisher: Land House
First published: 2010
Description
Compiled by Willem Nyland and his groups; Not to be confused with the Traditional Studies Press 'Guide and Index', this one differs first by being especially reflective of Mr Nyland's perspective of which words and topics should receive focus, and that for the more important ones, multiple quotations are included, so the reader can follow the development of an idea, such as 'conscience' through the various references to it in the text; 858 pages
Comments
Terry Winter Owens, an early participant in the development of this index, has written, "This was not to be a simple index. Instead, Mr. Nyland intended what could more appropriately be called a glossary or concordance. He wanted the index to feature the most essential, definitive paragraphs from Beelzebub. Gurdjieff's style was to present fragments of information, partial definitions and layers of explanations at widely spaced intervals. Mr. Nyland believed that bringing together these related excerpts would help the serious student gain insight into the concepts and laws. In this way, one could parallel the task of Hassein, who was enjoined by Beelzebub to study the laws of World Creation and World Maintenance."
