Gurdjieff Center of Rochester

07/13/2025

Annie Lou Staveley 1906-1996
“The greatest thing I have learned in my life—and not just once, but many times—is the importance of work on oneself. In fact, it is the only important thing in anyone’s life. Everything else vanishes, almost without a trace, sooner or later. Only work on oneself leaves results which can be returned to, which do not change. Only work on myself is truly work for myself and can become work for all.”

Annie Lou Staveley was a member of Jane Heap’s group in London before and during the Second World War. She made frequent visits to Paris with the group to study with Gurdjieff between 1946 and1949. She later returned to the United States where she maintained a relationship with Mme Jeanne de Salzmann. She began meeting with former students of Jane Heap, reading Gurdjieff’s works together, in Portland Oregon. Many students gathered around her, and this eventually led to the purchase of a property in Aurora, Oregon that was named Two Rivers Farm, and became a thriving center for the Gurdjieff
work under her guidance. The farm continues to be a productive center for the work to this day.

05/27/2025

As Gurdjieff gathered students interested in his teaching, he found those with an aim beyond the exterior.
"Here there are neither Russians nor English, Jews nor Christians, but only those who pursue one aim—to be able to be."
G.I. Gurdjieff

04/22/2025

Another Quote from Gurdjieff that shows direction and aim for his teaching, as he gathered students during difficult times.
“In order to awaken a conscience capable of participating in every action, a personal aim and correct methods are necessary, It is for this awakening and realization, necessary for mankind, that schools exist."

04/07/2025

Gurdjieff introduced his teaching during a tumultuous time in the world. Political change was in the air when, realizing he needed to act in order to escape the conflict, Gurdjieff decided to travel with his students seeking some measure of stability. In the quote below he is speaking about beginning to establish a school in Moscow in 1913 about a year before the first world war.
“I wished to create around myself conditions in which a man would be continually reminded of the sense and aim of his existence by an unavoidable friction between his conscience and the automatic manifestations of his nature."
G.I. Gurdjieff

03/30/2025

Presence is our ability to “be here” rather than living in a state of constant autopilot, daydreaming, or worry. Starting April 14, Stillwood Study Center will be sponsoring "A Field Guide to Presence" at Pittsford Rec Center.

Grounded in the latest studies around human consciousness, this series will provide attendees with a glimpse into practices that represent a synthesis of eastern and western thought about our ability to maintain intentional attention. Presence, and the use of conscious awareness, requires a sustained inner effort that finds its roots in meditation. Attendees will have an opportunity to explore guided meditations and utilize hands-on activities
to develop the skill of being present. Members will discuss their own personal findings in the context of the larger group, gaining insights from two long-time practitioners along the way. See Page 32 of the Pittsford Spring Program brochure & sign up through the Town of Pittsford!
https://townofpittsford.org/files/publications/rec_brochure.pdf

01/15/2025

Did you know the Rochester Gurdjieff Center features an online group option? If you are new to the Work, or live somewhere where groups are not accessible, a zoom group may be of interest.
We believe the need to make contact with a community of people pursuing the deepest questions about themselves and the nature of the world is as strong today as ever, and we’re grateful we live in an age where we can connect and explore these practices together, no matter where we live.
Learn more and join in!

We will be restarting our Zoom group, making group Work again available to anyone interested in learning about the Gurdjieff tradition. As always, we will first try to help you identify a local group connected with the Gurdjieff Foundation if one exists in your area. Read on to learn more.

01/13/2025

Along with groups around the world, we celebrate the life of G.I. Gurdjieff. January 13, 1866 - October 29, 1949.

12/14/2024

Several Gurdjieff Center of Rochester group members joined others from around the world for this special opportunity at Harvard.

Harvard’s Center for the Study of World Religions invited the world to a two-day groundbreaking summit on the life and work of 20th-century mystic and spiritual teacher George Ivanovich Gurdjieff,…

10/27/2024

"We are here to retrieve the life by which and for which we came into the world."
Jeanne de Salzmann

06/22/2024

"If I manage to be sufficiently attentive to myself, I live several lives, several levels of life at the same time without knowing it. This crawling around on the surface of the earth is what I call my life; but that's only one aspect, the coarsest one. At the same time that you crawl around, without knowing it you partake of a life that is extremely fine, extremely subtle."
Michel Conge, Inner Octave
Photo Credit: Barry Perlus

06/02/2024

Over the next few months we will consider ideas in the Gurdjieff Work that describe humans as living at “the level of life” and at the same time, able to move toward a higher level.
“Two kinds of movement share my Presence: a movement toward the source and a movement toward life. I need to see and remember that I belong to two levels.”
Jeanne De Salzmann

05/09/2024

This year we are looking at several aspects of the Gurdjieff work. For the month of May we are sharing quotes about our work with Movements (sacred dance) that Gurdjieff brought to his students.
“The work of Movements is part of a teaching, every aspect of which is oriented towards the development of consciousness. Engaging in these exercises the individual begins to feel that he is trying to contact deeper energies in himself which, until then, were completely unknown to him.”
Pauline de Dampierre