About Gurdjieff Movements

By Jivan Sunder

I find it very difficult to describe the Movements: they are something to be experienced. What they are for me - and why they are such a powerful practice - are, quite simply, truth embodied in movement: Truth....dancing: they are the work of an enlightened man, Gurdjieff.

Another enlightened man, Osho, said that truth can only be experienced directly (and indeed, Gurdjieff said much the same thing in 'Meetings with Remarkable Men.'). That's why, for me, the only way to 'understand' the Movements is to practise them.

In this website I offer a small cyber-taste of Gurdjieff Movements, and also news of my upcoming workshops.

I've been teaching and practicing the Movements now for over 30 years. My teachers are Avrom Altman and Deborah Rose Longo, who are basically from the Bennett lineage. As well as them, I've been taught, albeit for just a few odd days many years ago, by Margit Martinu, whose words and movement are for me like pearls. As a young student I also attended a workshop with Solange Claustres: she scared me to death and taught me loads.

During the 90s, I was based in India and for over 10 years I led the 6-week Gurdjieff Movements Intensive at Osho Commune International (now re-named Osho Meditation Resort) in Pune, as well as leading 10-day silent Movements Retreats.

But I also have, since the mid 90s, travelled to many different countries giving Movements Workshops and Intensives - UK, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, India, Taiwan, the US and Costa Rica.

Since 2006 I am based in Israel, but for the last 10 years I've worked almost exclusively in the Far East: Mainland China - I've probably worked in around 15 different cities, including the now famous Wuhan! - Taiwan and Hong Kong.

I've worked many times since 1996 with U Theatre Company in Taiwan (www.utheatre.org.tw), the most recent time being in January 2020.

In September 2006, U Theater premiered their Movements production, 'River Journey', at the National Theater of Taiwan in Taipei, and revived the production in 2020; and at the same venue in November 2011 they premiered 'Beyond Time', also featuring Gurdjieff Movements.

I almost always say at the beginning of my Workshops: "this is not a dance workshop – and I am not a Dance Teacher!"

I'm not working with dance (even though we spend almost all of the time in my Workshops learning Movements!); what I am working with is what Gurdjieff called "Presence of Being"

Gurdjieff said that man, as he is, really cannot do anything; he hurtles his way through life like a driverless car, driving on and on, but really having no idea of where he is going; he is simply a collection of automatic and unconscious reactions – or as Gurdjieff sometimes put it – Man is fast asleep. He is totally unaware.

Gurdjieff Movements are a way of waking up to who we are, a method of waking up to our true potential – and they work purely through the body/mind connection, purely through the medium of dance.

But unlike many forms of dance as used in therapy or meditation, Gurdjieff Movements are not about expressing our feelings and emotions through our movement;

Rather, through the learning of precise sequences of positions, the Movements hold up a clear mirror to allow us to begin to see who we are, to become more aware of ourself and all of our life strategies, to become more present to the reality of what our life is about. When we become more aware of our reality, we start living our life from a more authentic place.

The Movements are what we may call Awareness Work; awareness work functions primarily through seeing: seeing clearly who we are – in this case through the medium of the Movements; once we begin to see who we are, and simply say yes to that, without any judgment or opinion about what we see, then this opens up the opportunity for changes to occur in our life – not that we have to actively find means to change, not that we have to actively do something; rather change occurs naturally through our understanding and our awareness.

Below is an article I found a long time ago somewhere on the Internet, by a guy called Thomas Wanning, who writes about his experiences as a student of the Movements. I don't know him personally, but I like very much what he writes.

(I publish this here without his permission, as I can no longer find the article online, so i have no way of contacting him to ask permission)

At first I did not enjoy them at all. They are not like other sacred dances where it was possible to do them in a kind of pleasant reverie. The Gurdjieff Movements demand constant attention. They are frustrating and ego-deflating. As soon as you think you’ve got it, you lose it. If you allow your mind to drift for a second, you're lost.

Some of the more complex movements, which require that you keep track of two or three different counts simultaneously, are simply impossible without letting go of all the distractions and commentaries that usually interfere with our ability to do whatever it is we set out to do.

But as you learn how to concentrate your attention solely on what you are doing, without any self-criticism or self-congratulation, a remarkable inner calm can be achieved. Achieving this inner calm in the midst of struggle is, I came to realize, one of the principal aims of the Movements. It is one thing to be inwardly calm while meditating on a mountaintop; it is another to be calm while your wife or your boss is screaming at you.

The external, visible aspect of the movements mimics all the possible activities and demands of life. In life there is conflict. Therefore the Movements prepare you to face conflict squarely, while at the same time maintaining that essential, internal calm.To be inwardly still in the midst of a storm of activity depends upon your ability to make an effort without identifying with the results of that effort; whether it be "good" or "bad." It is possible to learn how to strive hard without being elated by success or angered by failure. But while this is simple enough to say, it is not at all easy to do. We have all learned to love ourselves when we succeed, and hate ourselves when we fail

Gurdjieff Movements are sometimes frustrating, and sometimes even painful, but in doing them we have the opportunity to strengthen an element of our being that feels not pleasure, but joy.

Joy lies in developing our potential, in overcoming difficulties, in becoming who we really are. Joy comes only as the result of long and persistent efforts. Once we have known real joy, we can still lose it, but others can never simply take it away.

Apart from teaching Movements, I also facilitate another kind of Awareness Work: a Retreat called Satori (5 or 7 days), and I also train people in the process.

but you can read more about these kind of retreats at www.awareness-academy.com, a site run by my friend and colleague, Ganga Cording.

The external, visible aspect of the movements mimics all the possible activities and demands of life. In life there is conflict. Therefore the Movements prepare you to face conflict squarely, while at the same time maintaining that essential, internal calm. To be inwardly still in the midst of a storm of activity depends upon your ability to make an effort without identifying with the results of that effort; whether it be "good" or "bad" It is possible to learn how to strive hard without being elated by success or angered by failure. But while this is simple enough to say, it is not at all easy to do. We have all learned to love ourselves when we succeed, and hate ourselves when we fail

There is a Sufi legend that the gates of Paradise open once every 500 years. All who wish to gain admittance must stand at attention and wait, for the gates open only for an instant. Any who are caught napping must wait for another 500 years. We live in a civilization that celebrates ease and pleasure. Gurdjieff Movements are sometimes frustrating, and sometimes even painful, but in doing them we have the opportunity to strengthen an element of our being that feels not pleasure, but joy.