I saw the pages on Sharon Gans on this site, so I know there is cult use of the writings of Gurdjieff.

A girlfriend of a friend of mine got heavily into Gurdjieff and began going to meetings of some group that studied him after she and my friend had a harsh breakup. I don't know if this group she's in is connected to Gans. Fast forward a couple of years and now she is sharing a house with two other female members of the group, and they run a charity outreach program for homeless kids downtown. The group's aims sound fantastic -- they give homeless kids a chance to improve themselves and expand their worldview through the arts, teaching musical instruments, providing painting supplies and gallery shows, a safe space to get off the streets during the day, etc., etc. They have gotten positive write-ups in the local press. None of the press or the group's website have any mention of Gurdjieff. It's all very secular on the surface, and may be in practice as well.

This gal hinted that I should look into Gurdjieff, and I read one of his books and found it somewhat interesting but in the end kind of loopy as well. After awhile our friendship deteriorated and I no longer talk to her. I guess what I'm interested in are opinions regarding this homeless charity she runs. Does anyone suppose it's some kind of recruitment tool for a Gurdjieff-based cult? I'm not sure what they would want with homeless teens. This gal has quite a bit of money, so I can see what they would want with her, but why the kids?

It all may be perfectly harmless and in fact philanthropic and admirable. Just curious as to the thoughts of others on this. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Even if there is a cult tinge to it all I'm not sure what I could do about it anyway besides keeping my distance, as I already am.

If she's attending groups that study Gurdjieff, but it isn't really clear who are what the group is, there's no name involved, and she's secretive about it, it's most probably the cult run by Gans, her husband and/or associates. What's the group's website?

If she has money, especially if it's from a trust fund, she will be treated fabulously for as long as there's a chance that they can get their hands on it. Any charitable activities in which a group is involved in have an ulterior motive.

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coronoman
If she's attending groups that study Gurdjieff, but it isn't really clear who are what the group is, there's no name involved, and she's secretive about it, it's most probably the cult run by Gans, her husband and/or associates.

That description fits her group, as far as I can tell. She never named it, and I think she used the term "fourth way." She definitely seemed secretive in talking about it, implying that they had suffered from prejudice and so kept things quiet in order to avoid being messed with.

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coronoman
What's the group's website?

I don't know if her Gurdjieff group itself has a website. I don't know about it if it does. The charity she and her two fellow Gurdjieff group members run does have a website but it mentions nothing about their personal philosophy. I'd rather not name or link to that charity here because she might Google this post and find out I've been talking about her behind her back.

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coronoman
If she has money, especially if it's from a trust fund, she will be treated fabulously for as long as there's a chance that they can get their hands on it. Any charitable activities in which a group is involved in have an ulterior motive.

She inherited a lot of money, from what I've been told, though she doesn't show it off in dress or lifestyle (beyond her ability to work fulltime on a charity that doesn't pay a salary). I'm not sure if she has all of the money or if it's in a trust fund. When she was talking to me about the Gurdjieff group and trying to convince me to do free work for her charity, I did manage ask her about tithings and got her to admit that she had to pay the group to "advance in level" whatever that means (sounded like the Scientology model of paying for spiritual growth).

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skeptical inquirer
That description fits her group, as far as I can tell. She never named it, and I think she used the term "fourth way."

any Gurdjieff group would use the phrase Fourth Way. Gurdjieff detailed four spiritual paths which might appeal to different kinds of people and described his own as the fourth way.

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skeptical inquirer
This gal hinted that I should look into Gurdjieff, and I read one of his books and found it somewhat interesting but in the end kind of loopy as well.

as a bit of conventional wisdom, I think most people reccomend reading the introductions to Gurdjieff written by other writers like Ouspensky (I don't recall his other acolytes off-hand) rather than by Gurdjieff himself. he himself wrote three books to read in sequence, the first more than a thousand pages long and deliberately difficult to read. I did not find it very enlightening and what I did find useful I tended to already know through summaries elsewhere. if you want to gain from Gurdjieff's writing (and you can gain from it) then start elsewhere than with his actual books. maybe a transcript of his early lectures. I forget the names of those.

This does not sound at all like the Sharon Gans group:
members are not allowed to associate with one another outside of "meetings" and certainly not allowed to live together.

Skeptical,

"They have gotten positive write-ups in the local press."

Can you post a link showing the local writeups this group has been receiving? What state does your friend live in? This group working with homeless kids sounds alarming to me. Read about the leader of the California group--Fellowship of Friends on this site. I don't think they should be working with homeless children.

Skeptical:

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I saw the pages on Sharon Gans on this site, so I know there is cult use of the writings of Gurdjieff.

A girlfriend of a friend of mine got heavily into Gurdjieff and began going to meetings of some group that studied him after she and my friend had a harsh breakup. I don't know if this group she's in is connected to Gans. Fast forward a couple of years and now she is sharing a house with two other female members of the group, and they run a charity outreach program for homeless kids downtown.

Contrary to what another poster has asserted, the "no fraternization" rule is suspended once you become an "advanced" student-- sharing a house with two other students is quite plausible.

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The group's aims sound fantastic -- they give homeless kids a chance to improve themselves and expand their worldview through the arts, teaching musical instruments, providing painting supplies and gallery shows, a safe space to get off the streets during the day, etc., etc. They have gotten positive write-ups in the local press. None of the press or the group's website have any mention of Gurdjieff. It's all very secular on the surface, and may be in practice as well.

One thing is likely-- just as some viruses can adapt to changing circumstances, so can shady groups once they have been discovered. Is it so far a stretch for one to believe that the same group of villains who are behind the "Artists and Orphans" documentary are trying another version in New York City? After all, the documentary was "on the surface" too. Also Sharon might have seen the writing on the wall and have decided to use the internet instead of demonizing it as part of her paranoid/Big Brother/conspiracy theory mindset. By the way, your acqaintance's outfit [i:ab6dc98839]is[/i:ab6dc98839] in New York or Boston, right?

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This gal hinted that I should look into Gurdjieff, and I read one of his books and found it somewhat interesting but in the end kind of loopy as well. After awhile our friendship deteriorated and I no longer talk to her. I guess what I'm interested in are opinions regarding this homeless charity she runs. Does anyone suppose it's some kind of recruitment tool for a Gurdjieff-based cult? I'm not sure what they would want with homeless teens. This gal has quite a bit of money, so I can see what they would want with her, but why the kids?

The ranks of Sharon Gans' and Alex Horn's groups are quite likely thinning-- it is no doubt increasingly difficult to recruit people when all you have to do is Google and you get all this information on Sharon Gans and the others who have been her students for so many years: Fred Mindel, Robert Klein, Minerva Taylor, and others. It seems improbable at first glance that these professional predators would be cultivating their next revenue stream from homeless teens-- they need money probably more than they need power-- but one shouldn't put anything past them. It is worrisome-- these parasites might just be desperate enough and despicable enough to do it. But to convert homeless teens into future potential "students" seems a bit of a stretch. Alternatively, when someone is rich the carefully controlled ego-boosting and pseudo-fawning might extend to the point where this woman would be "instructed" to use her money and time doing good works-- further cementing a bond of trust to be exploited at a later date.

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It all may be perfectly harmless and in fact philanthropic and admirable. Just curious as to the thoughts of others on this. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Even if there is a cult tinge to it all I'm not sure what I could do about it anyway besides keeping my distance, as I already am.

It is always a good idea to keep your distance, but given the content of your post some might be wondering what the fascination is for you with an "ex-friend of a friend" who you heard stuff about after their break-up and still manage to keep tabs on two years later? No attack here-- just curious.

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