Travels in The Middle East
In 1953, he undertook a long journey to the Middle East, visiting Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Persia. His search, chronicled in his book Journeys in Islamic Countries brought him into contact with Sufis of extraordinary accomplishment, such as Emin Chikou and Farhad Dede, but he found in none of them the quality he perceived in Gurdjieff, of universal understanding transcending local conditioning.
During 1954, there were increasingly evident differences of opinion between Bennett and Madame de Salzmann regarding the promulgation of Gurdjieff's teachings, and Bennett came to realise that an effectual working relationship with her groups was not possible. Bennett wished to execute Gurdjieff's last directives literally, by disseminating his ideas and writings as widely as possible, especially Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson, which Madame de Salzmann wanted to keep away from the public eye.
In 1955, he initiated a project to build an unusual nine-sided meeting hall at Coombe Springs for the performance of Gurdjieff's sacred dance movements. This, together with his public lectures in London, completed the rift with Madame de Salzmann. The project took two years to complete. At the opening in 1957, Bennett commented that the real value of such a project was in building a community rather than the building itself.
Read more about this topic: John G. Bennett
Famous quotes containing the words travels in, travels, middle and/or east:
“Take the instant way,
For honor travels in a strait so narrow,
Where one but goes abreast. Keep then the path,
For emulation hath a thousand sons
That one by one pursue. If you give way,
Or hedge aside from the direct forthright,
Like to an entered tide, they all rush by
And leave you hindmost.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“In all my travels I never met with any one Scotchman but what was a man of sense: I believe everybody of that country that has any, leaves it as fast as they can.”
—Francis Lockier (1668–1740)
“Complete courage and absolute cowardice are extremes that very few men fall into. The vast middle space contains all the intermediate kinds and degrees of courage; and these differ as much from one another as men’s faces or their humors do.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“A puff of wind, a puff faint and tepid and laden with strange odours of blossoms, of aromatic wood, comes out the still night—the first sigh of the East on my face. That I can never forget. It was impalpable and enslaving, like a charm, like a whispered promise of mysterious delight.... The mysterious East faced me, perfumed like a flower, silent like death, dark like a grave.”
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924)