The Cooperative

Namaskaram. I was introduced to the esoteric teachings of GI Gurdjieff at the age of 12 from a second generation Gurdjieff student. At that age I did not yet understand the significance of these teachings. I became a spiritual seeker at age 15 after becoming non-religious. I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and later returned to learning and practicing the Fourth Way of Gurdjieff in 1999. I spent three years, from 2005 to 2008 as a member of the Gurdjieff Foundation of Canada learning from many teachers and masters. This included learning and leading meditations (called sittings in the Gurdjieff tradition) as well as practicing the teachings and working with groups. During this time I also studied the ideas of other esoteric teachers. Despite steady progress in my spiritual journey I always felt like I was somehow hitting some walls. I was then introduced to classical Yoga, but as a form of non-metaphysical science – a sort of psychology beyond what Western psychology understands oracknowledges but is not something outside of “this world.” Since then I have been learning teachings based on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and doing daily practices of meditation and Kriya Yoga. This has greatly boosted my spiritual journey past many of the walls I was hitting to a place where I am more aware than stuck in memory and imagination.