Religion and the Arts 21 (2017) 150–175 RELIGION and the ARTS brill.com/rart “Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes” Understanding Aesthetic Experience via Gurdjieff’s Phenomenology of Human Being David Seamon Kansas State University Abstract In this article, I draw on Gurdjieff’s philosophy to initiate a phenomenology of aes- thetic experience, which I define as any intense emotional engagement that one feels in encountering or creating an artistic work, whether a painting, poem, song, dance, sculpture, or something else. To consider how aesthetic experience might be under- stood in a Gurdjieffian framework, I begin with an overview of phenomenology,empha- sizing the phenomenological concepts of lifeworld and natural attitude, about which Gurdjieff said much, though not using phenomenological language. I then discuss Gur- djieff’s “psychology of human beings” as it might be interpreted phenomenologically, emphasizing three major claims: first, that, human beings are “asleep”; second, that they are “machines”; and, third, that they are “three-centered beings.” I draw on the last claim—human “three-centeredness”—to highlight how aesthetic experiences might be interpreted via Gurdjieff’s philosophy. Drawing on accounts from British philoso- pher and Gurdjieff associate J. G. Bennett, I end by considering how a Gurdjieffian perspective understands the role of the artistic work in contributing to aesthetic expe- rience. Keywords G. I. Gurdjieff – P. D. Ouspensky – J. G. Bennett – phenomenology – aesthetic experi- ence – art – phenomenology of aesthetics – phenomenology of art © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2017 | doi: 10.1163/15685292-02101006 Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 05:24:26PM via free access “seeing the world with fresh eyes” 151 … The important thing Is to pull yourself up by your own hair To turn yourself inside out And see the whole world with fresh eyes. peter weiss 27 ∵ I begin this article with these lines from German playwright Peter Weiss’s 1963 Marat/Sade because they encapsulate a central aim of my personal and profes- sional life: to locate practical and conceptual knowledge whereby I understand myself and the world in deeper, more comprehensive ways.1 Academically, I have sought to actualize this aim via phenomenology, which can be defined most simply as the examination and description of everyday human experi- ence and meaning, particularly their unnoticed, taken-for-granted aspects.2 In my personal life, I have been involved for over forty years with G. I. Gurdjieff’s philosophy, having studied with several individuals who worked directly with him, including J. G. Bennett, Elizabeth Bennett, Pierre Elliot,Vivien Elliot, Anna 1 Theater and film director Peter Brook quoted these lines in his introduction to Geoffrey Skelton’s English version of Marat/Sade (v); Brook directed both its 1964 London stage version and the 1967 film version. For much of his life, Brook has been involved with Gurdjieffian practice and directed the 1979 film, Meetings with Remarkable Men, based on Gurdjieff’s posthumous 1963 semi-autobiography of the same title. On the importance of Gurdjieff in Brook’s life, see Brook, “Secret Dimension” and Shifting Point. In suggesting how Gurdjieff’s ideas help to “pull one’s self up by the hair” and “see the whole world with fresh eyes,” Brook emphasized the need to intensify the lived quality of one’s experience: “A change in quality does not occur by accident; a change in quality of being is the result of an exact process … [A knowledge of how to change quality] can lead us out of the icy world of mechanics and behaviorism into a universe where everything finds its place, once it is illuminated by the clarity of understanding. This understanding is not theory; it is vision, and vision is alive. It shows us the unending and inevitable movements toward and away from quality. There is a joy in quality found and a suffering in quality betrayed, and these two experiences become the motors that constantly renew our search.” (“Hidden Dimension” 35–36). 2 Introductions to phenomenology include Finlay; Moran, Introduction; Seamon “Lived Bod- ies”; and van Manen. Religion and the Arts 21 (2017) 150–175 Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 05:24:26PM via free access 152 seamon Durco, Paul Anderson, and Naomi Anderson.3Without hesitation, I can declare that my experience with the Gurdjieff Work, as it is usually called, has opened my eyes to the lived nature of who I am and to the world in which I find myself. It has helped me to become a better, more understanding and accomplished person. Like anyone else, I still have foibles, blinders, and weaknesses, but I also know that I am more aware, more able, and more resilient because of my involvement with Gurdjieffian principles and practices. In this article, I contend that Gurdjieff’s philosophy can be understood as an implicit phenomenology of human being. First, Gurdjieff provided con- ceptual and practical means to better see and understand the hugely diverse range of human experiences and modes of consciousness. Second, he offered an experientially-grounded framework for identifying an underlying order and structure to this hugely diverse range of consciousness and engagement. As I explain more fully below, there are major differences between Gurdjieff’s phi- losophy and phenomenology, particularly the fact that, for Gurdjieff, a thor- ough understanding of human experience is useful only because it can help individuals effect personal betterment and self-transformation. As Gurdjieff’s associate P. D. Ouspensky explained, the focus is on the individual “not from the point of view of what he [or she] seems to be, but from the point of view 3 J. G. Bennett (1897–1974) was a British philosopher, mathematician, and author of the influ- ential four-volume The Dramatic Universe, published between 1956 and 1966. Bennett worked with P. D. Ouspensky for many years in London; and with Gurdjieff in France in 1923 and in the months before Gurdjieff’s death in Paris in 1949. He founded the International Academy for Continuous Education (Sherborne, Gloucestershire), which from 1971 to 1976 introduced students to Gurdjieffian and related spiritual approaches; I attended the Academy during the 1972–1973 course year. Bennett’s second wife, Elizabeth Bennett (1918–1991), worked in Paris with Gurdjieff in the months before his death and played a significant role in directing the Academy’s day-to-day operations; see her memoirs, My Life, J.G. Bennett and G.I. Gurdji- eff. Pierre Elliot (1914–2005) and his wife Vivian Elliot worked with Gurdjieff in the months before his death, and were instructors at Bennett’s Academy, including their teaching Gurd- jieff’s sacred dances known as “the Movements” (P. Elliot, “Levels” and “Reflections”; V. Elliot, “First Meeting,” “In Memoriam,” and “Paris, May, 1949”). Anna Durco (1924–2004) met Gurdji- eff as a child and, under his direction, studied the Movements, which she taught at Bennett’s Academy during the first- and second-year courses (J. G. Bennett, Making 20–21, 96, 104–105). For accounts of Bennett’s Academy experiment, see Appelgren; J. G. Bennett, Witness, chap- ter 28; Pittman, chapters 3–4; Roth; and Seamon, “Encountering.” Paul Anderson (1897–1983) and his wife Naomi Anderson worked with Gurdjieff in France and later established Gurd- jieff groups in New York City and Worcester, Massachusetts, where I studied with them in the early 1970s (P. Anderson). The Andersons were close associates of Bennett, and several of their students, including myself, attended his Academy courses. Religion and the Arts 21 (2017) 150–175 Downloaded from Brill.com09/24/2021 05:24:26PM via free access “seeing the world with fresh eyes” 153 of what he [or she] may become; that is, from the point of view of his [or her] possible evolution”(Psychology 6). In this article, I draw on a Gurdjieffian perspective to initiate a phenomenol- ogy of aesthetic experience, which I define as any intense emotional engage- ment that one feels in encountering or creating an artistic work, whether the medium is painting, music, dance, poetry, architecture, or something else. To consider how aesthetic experience might be understood via a Gurdjieffian framework, I begin with an overview of phenomenology, emphasizing the phe- nomenological concepts of lifeworld and natural attitude, about which Gur- djieff said much, though not using phenomenological language. I then dis- cuss Gurdjieff’s “psychology of human beings” as it might be understood phe- nomenologically, emphasizing three major claims: first, that, human beings are “asleep”; second, that they are “machines”; and, third, that they are “three- centered beings.” I draw on the last claim—human “three-centeredness”—to highlight how aesthetic experiences might be interpreted via Gurdjieff’s under- standing.4 When invited by editor Carole Cusack to write this article, I had deep-seated doubts because there is the difficult but legitimate question of whether an “insider” to the Work (or, for that matter, to any spiritual tradition) can present an objective account and interpretation.5 As academic commentators have 4 Gurdjieff’s three major writings are: All and Everything: Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson (1950), Meetings with Remarkable Men (1963), and Life Is Real Only Then, When “I Am” (1975). Accurate introductions to Gurdjieff’s ideas and practices include: J. B. Bennett, Gurdjieff: Mak- ing a NewWorld; Maurice Nicoll, Psychological Commentaries on theTeachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (five volumes); and P. D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous, The Psychology of Man’s Possible Evolution, and The Fourth Way. Biographies of Gurdjieff include: J. G. Bennett, Making; and James Moore, Gurdjieff. Useful commentaries on Gurdjieff include: Roszak 136– 151; Shirley; Speeth; Webb; and Wilson 263–270. A helpful guide to writings about Gurdjieff is available at: www.gurdjieff-bibliography.com/ (accessed August 18, 2016).