William Patrick Patterson is a spiritual teacher of The Fourth Way, an ancient, esoteric teaching of self-development brought to the West by G. I. Gurdjieff. Patterson is also an author, filmmaker and speaker on spiritual themes, including The Fourth Way, Being & Becoming, Advaita Vedanta, Self-Awakening, Self-Observation, Esoteric Christianity, and Conscious-Body-Breath-Impressions.
Contents |
William Patrick Patterson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was an exchange student at the University of Vienna, Austria, and graduated from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, with a B.A. degree in English and minors in Philosophy and Psychology. He worked in New York for IBM, J. Walter Thompson, BBD&O and Hartcourt Brace. He founded and edited In New York magazine and ran it for five years before selling it in 1969. Thereafter, he was the editor-in-chief of Food Management magazine and high-tech editor of Industry Week magazine. He resides in California.
Patterson was a longtime student of his seminal teacher Lord John Pentland, who was appointed by Gurdjieff to be the leader of the Work in America and was the president of the New York and San Francisco Gurdjieff Foundations. The rare-born Danish mystic Sunyata, who was given this name in 1936 by Ramana Maharshi, lived with Patterson starting in 1982 and introduced him to Advaita Vedanta.[1] Sunyata died in 1984 at the age of 94, but in the previous year he introduced Patterson to Dr. Jean Klein, a Western Advaita master with whom Patterson studied until Klein’s death in 1998.[1] Dr. Klein provided the foundation for a direct experiencing of the body, allowing Patterson to incorporate Work principles with Advaita Vedanta, which he has named Conscious-Body-Breath-Impressions. Dr. Klein also provided the necessary catalysis and encouragement for the writing of Patterson’s first book on The Gurdjieff Work, Eating The “I”: A Direct Account of The Fourth Way.
Patterson is the founder/director of Gurdjieff Legacy through which he teaches study groups, as well as seminars, workshops and talks on Fourth Way themes. He also founded and directs The Gurdjieff Studies Program, which allows students living out of the reach of ongoing Gurdjieff Legacy groups to participate in study through correspondence, seminars and scheduled private meetings.
Sample group meetings are found in the "Fourth Way Meetings" section of Patterson's latest book, Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time.[2] The section consists of 324 questions and answers arranged in 36 subsections. Group study includes weekly meetings and Days of Exploration where practical work with Fourth Way ideas regarding attention[3] and the triadic brain functioning[4] of the body is explored, experienced and refined.
Eating The "I": A Direct Account of The Fourth Way (Arete Communications, Fairfax, CA, 1992)
Struggle of the Magicians (Arete Communications, Fairfax, CA, 1998)
Struggle of the Magicians (Greek Translation, Metaekdotiki, Thessalonika, Greece, 1999)
Taking with the Left Hand (Arete Communications, Fairfax, CA, 1998)
Taking with the Left Hand (Japanese Translation, The English Agency, Tokyo, Japan, 2004)
Ladies of the Rope (Arete Communications, Fairfax, CA, 1998)
Gurdjieff et Les Femmes de la Cordée (La Table Ronde, Paris, France, 2005)
Voices in the Dark (Arete Communications, Fairfax, CA, 2000)
The Life & Teachings of Carlos Castaneda[5] (Arete Communications, Fairfax, CA, 2008)
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time (Arete Communications, Fairfax, CA 2009)
Adi Da Samraj Realized or/and Deluded? (Arete Communications, Fairfax, CA 2011)
A triannual international journal, first published in 1992, now in its 56nd issue.
When the mystic/guru G. I. Gurdjieff died in 1949, he left behind a curious yet influential body of teachings loosely centered on humankind's capacity for self-awareness. Gurdjieff's philosophy, often referred to as "The Work," still resonates with present-day freethinkers, as exhibited by the continuing presence (and recent redesign) of The Gurdjieff Journal …. The profiled issue contains worthwhile articles about Gurdjieff followers John Lester and Ethel Merston, as well as book, film, and art reviews about related works.[6]
"Redemption from Redemption," Yoga Journal, July/August 1990
"Silence Was His Specialty," Gnosis Magazine, Spring 1993
"Don't Force Read This Book," Gnosis Magazine, Fall 1997
"The Question of Truth," Revue 3 Millénaire, Paris, France, #81 2006[7]
"The Profound Question of Energy," Revue 3 Millénaire, Paris, France, #82 2006[8]
"The Question of Rebirth," Revue 3 Millénaire, Paris, France, #83 2007[9]
"The Unheard Symphony," Revue 3 Millénaire, Paris, France, #92 2009[10]
Seven years in the making, The Life & Significance of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Patterson’s documentary film trilogy, was completed in 2003. He wrote, directed and narrated the trilogy totaling over three hours of footage, much of which was shot on location, including the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid, Ancient Thebes, Karnak, Temple in Man, Valley of the Kings, Temple of Edfu, Abu Simbel, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Constantinople, London, Fontainebleau-en-Avon, the Prieuré, Lascaux, Mont St. Michel, London, Lyne Place, Hampstead, Mendham, New Haven and New York.[11] The seven-year project provided a practical Work task for students to apply their own efforts to understanding ideas of the Work, such as uncertainty, inner-considering, imagination, knowledge, being, super-effort, common aim.
Explores the early dating of the Sphinx with reference to Robert Schloch, John Anthony West and the research of Schwaller de Lubicz. William Patterson leads us on a tour of Egypt and explores the esotericism inherent within its key structures in terms of the wisdom Gurdjieff transmitted. We explore the Temple of Luxor and receive an introduction to the work of Schwaller de Lubicz on the Sacred Mathematics of the Temple of Man (Luxor) and true meaning of the God Min. We also explore the Temple of Karnak, Valley of the Kings and Edfu. At Edfu we come to a deeper appreciation of the relationship between Horus and Set and its relevance within our own spiritual lives. Patterson also notes the similarities between the way Gurdjieff described the Atlantean source of his teaching in the "All and Everything Series" and key inscriptions on the walls of the Temple at Edfu. As the film progresses we get deeper insight into the nature of this teaching, its connection to Esoteric Christianity and its relevance today.[12]
Fascinating exploration of Gurdjieff's effort to bring the Fourth Way teaching to the West. While it is a lineal outline of Gurdjieff’s life and teaching through the momentous period of 1912–1924, beautifully intertwined are outlines of key Fourth Way concepts, major students and the world historical context of each period. Rather than simply presenting Gurdjieff’s life in isolation as so many biographies of esoteric figures tend to do, this film puts it in a larger context, both spiritually and historically.[12]
Begins with Gurdjieff's car accident and his closure of the Prieuré. In many ways it is hard to consider it an accident. While on a material level it may seem that way, however Gurdjieff saw it in a very different manner. From this time onwards began a new level of his work. He realized that regardless of the potential of his students he could not train them to the level needed to transmit the knowledge within the short time left. He also believed that his students did not appreciate the gravity of the world situation, something which today has become all too obvious. Accordingly, he decided he needed to leave a Legominism.[13] Gurdjieff chose to place his Legominism in written form.[12]
"The Fourth Way Teaching," Monthly Aspectarian, February, 2001
"The Making of the Gurdjieff Trilogy," Evolve Magazine, 2004
Seeing Beyond, Bonnie Colleen, February 2009
Voice America Network, Michael Kell, October 9, 2009
Eating The "I". Library Journal, 1991
Eating The "I". Yoga Journal, November 1991
Eating The "I". Gnosis, Summer 1992
Eating The "I". Rainbow City Express, July 1992
Eating The "I". In Pittsburgh, November 4, 1993
Eating The "I". Syzygy, Winter-Spring 1993
Eating The "I". Free Press, January 26, 1993
Eating The "I". Fate, July 1994
Struggle of the Magicians. Rapport, January/February 1996
Struggle of the Magicians. Gnosis, Spring 1996
Struggle of the Magicians. Inner Journeys, Spring 1996
Struggle of the Magicians. Light of Consciousness, Spring 1996
Struggle of the Magicians. NAPRA Review, Summer 1996
Struggle of the Magicians. Mudra, Fall 1996
Taking with the Left Hand. The Bookwatch, November 1997
Taking with the Left Hand. Publishers Weekly, December 1997
Ladies of the Rope. Reviewer's Bookwatch, November 1998
Ladies of the Rope. The Midwest Book Review, December 1998
Ladies of the Rope. Abiegnus, November 1998
Ladies of the Rope. Inner Journeys, Spring 1999
Ladies of the Rope. Conscious Life, April 1999
Taking with The Left Hand. Caliber, University of California Press, George Adams, April, 1999
Struggle of the Magicians. Caliber, University of California Press, George Adams, October, 1999
Voices in the Dark. Publishers Weekly, December 11, 2000
Gurdjieff in Egypt (film). Convergence Magazine, Summer 2000
Eating The "I". Common Ground, Summer 2000
Eating The "I". Inner Words, November/December 2000
Voices in the Dark. The Bookwatch, February 2001
Voices in the Dark. Wisconsin Bookwatch, September 2001
Ladies of The Rope. Inner Words, January/February 2001
Struggle of the Magicians. Whole Life Times, March 2001
Voices in the Dark. Ralph Magazine, #88 Late Fall 2002
Gurdjieff's Legacy (film). New Age Retailer, May 2004
Eating The "I". Living Traditions, May 2004
The Life & Significance of G. I. Gurdjieff (documentary trilogy). Living Traditions, May 2007
The Gurdjieff Journal. Library Journal, November 2007
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. Revue 3 Millénaire, Spring 2009
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. The Bookwatch, May 2009
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. Arizona Networking News, June 2009
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. Small Press Bookwatch, June 2009
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. Light of Consciousness, Summer 2009
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. New Dawn, July/August 2010
The Life & Teachings of Carlos Castaneda. New Dawn, September/October 2010
Eating The "I". New Dawn Magazine, November/December 2010