John G. Bennett
1897–1974
John G. Bennett was a British scientist, mathematician, and philosopher who integrated scientific research with studies of Asiatic languages and religions.
Born on June 8, 1897, Bennett travelled widely and worked with many spiritual leaders.
While in Constantinople in 1921—during the aftermath of the Great War and the Russian Revolution—he met both G. I. Gurdjieff and P. D. Ouspensky.
These meetings shaped the direction of his spiritual development and in the summer of 1923, he spent three months at Gurdjieff's Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in France. In spite of the shortness of his stay, Bennett was shown things that convinced him that man is capable of spiritual transformation and that Gurdjieff had profound knowledge and understanding of the techniques by which this could be achieved.
Soon thereafter, Bennett returned to England and worked with Ouspensky's groups for the next fifteen years. Then, in the summer of 1949, he spent a month working very intensively with Gurdjieff in Paris, and this experience laid the foundation for a significant transformation in his life. J. G. Bennett died on December 13, 1974, leaving a legacy of selfless giving and unrelenting inquiry into the mystery and meaning of existence.
George Bennett (John Bennett’s son) recounts the different influences that shaped his father’s search. He recognizes the life-long impact Ouspensky and particularly Gurdjieff had on John Bennett and describes how Gurdjieff’s influence shaped the groups Bennett led during the last twenty-five years of his life.
Bennett’s study was first published in Rider’s Review (Autumn 1950), London, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of Bennett Books. Bennett grapples with the contradiction of trying to elucidate a “book that defies verbal analysis” and concludes that Beelzebub’s Tales is an epoch-making work that represents the first new mythology in 4000 years. He finds in Gurdjieff’s ideas regarding time, God’s purpose in creating the universe, conscience, and the suffering of God, a synthesis transcending Eastern and Western doctrines about humanity’s place in the cosmos.
John G. Bennett describes the “Temple Dances” Gurdjieff was teaching his pupils in Constantinople in 1920 and at the Prieuré in 1923.
There are several organizations associated with the teaching of J. G. Bennett.
This webpage © 1998, 2002 Gurdjieff Electronic Publishing
Revision: April 1, 2002
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