Travel to Sacred Places

A Family’s Visit to Gurdjieff’s Grave & the Prieuré

This summer, our family’s travels began with several days in the environs around Paris, and visits to places Sacred within the Gurdjieff Work. The first stop was 6 rue des Colonels-Renard, the site of Mr. Gurdjieff’s Paris apartment, which stood as a beacon to consciousness as documented in Voices in The Dark. Referencing the indelible final page of “From the Author” in All & Everything, this site served as a potential portal to paradise and eternity in the midst of Hellish surroundings, and also offered a seminal influence on the future of the Work. Mr. Gurdjieff’s Sacred Rascooarno saw tutelage by those who carried the Sacred Teaching into the future, including Lord Pentland in our own lineage. Taking our children there to witness this monument to truth, was an important first stop on our journey. A second was the chic Parisian café that served as Gurdjieff’s ‘office’—the famous Café de la Paix—transformed by its usage for writing or meetings with students such as the Ladies of the Rope into a school of esoteric knowledge.

We next traveled to Avon to see the Château du Prieuré. This was a test of endurance and will, as we first erroneously searched in the neighboring town of Fontainebleau. All inquiry into the location of the Prieuré led locals to guide us toward the Château de Fontainebleau, the once weekend palace of the kings of France. To further confuse matters, almost each block in the town had a building very close in appearance to the Prieuré, in size and architectural style (at least to our American eyes remembrance from photos). It took continued searching and inquiry to finally be directed toward Le Prieuré des Basses-Loges in Avon. For future pilgrims, you can accurately arrive there with these directions: 48° 25′ 11″ N, 2° 44′ 09″ E. 

Arriving, there was a palpable sense of anticipation and an exhilaration after the long search. We parked and stepped onto the property, the grounds of which are now a park-like setting for the adjacent medical clinic. It was beautiful and serene, and the promenade under a set of short trees provided shade against the hot summer sun. To the right end of the park was a tall hedge, and over the top could be seen the familiar roofline of the Prieuré. Knowing that we were looking at the place where Gurdjieff had walked and taught produced a feeling that was accompanied by a strong sensation of energy. Here, the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man had its existence and stood as a monument to Being, Conscience, Consciousness.

Driving away from the Prieuré, we considered departing Avon, as a long drive to the South of France lay ahead. Amy resolved the question of whether to first visit the Avon cemetery, or whether to save that for a future visit by asserting, “We are here now!” Arriving at the entrance to the cemetery, we drove through the gate and, finally gaining the internet access that had escaped us in our search for the Prieuré, were directed to turn left on the first drive. Stepping out of the car, there was the simultaneous impression of the immensity of this locus on God’s Earth, and a realization that the grave was in need of the attention periodically necessary for its upkeep.

Initially, there was pulling by hand some tall weeds that had grown over the bed of grass. It was evident, though, that more time would be needed to properly tend to this most sacred of sites. The trip to Gascony would have to wait; the prepaid hotel reservation would necessarily be forfeited. The words from earlier echoing: “We are here…now!” After conversing with the local attendant, we traveled in search of a store where we could purchase gardening tools. Finding only ordinary shears, we returned and spent the afternoon trimming, weeding, watering the flowers still bordering the grave, and otherwise maintaining the site where the planetary body of Mr. Gurdjieff was laid to rest, alongside Madame Ostrowska, Gurdjieff’s mother, and his brother, Dimitri.

The impression on the entire family of Working—the children patiently assisting with returning the lawn back to a manageable height using ordinary scissors, pulling a seemingly infinite array of weeds along the border, and watering the patches of lawn that had succumbed to the summer heat—magnified by the energetic residue of being. The children seemed to understand the importance of the work, and rather than complaining of the heat or the time, used the tools we had to continue the process.

It was all potent food; resisting the urge to futurize and to imagine what else could be done to beautify the grave; staying with the vibration of Working in the moment, in presence; the permeating serenity of the surroundings, the connection to the cause of the cause of the cause of our spiritual arising. The entirety inspired the wordless intoning of the Hymn to our ENDLESSNESS:

Now only rest, and, as merited, we in gratitude, will maintain all that Thou hast created!

As we completed the work, and glanced back at the now restored gravesite, the opportunity arose to discuss Mr. Gurdjieff’s idea of Impressions with the children. Taking in the potent visual image and breathing along with fully sensing the body in the moment, we departed and drove to a nearby restaurant to also partake of some first being food. 

—Student Family of The Fourth Way