Description
Much of My Stairway to Subud first appeared as the record of a young man in the early 1950’s searching for values and inner understanding. At various times he was an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, a student with the Sri Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, then a follower of G.I.Gurdjieff for seven years under the direction of J.G.Bennett, author of The Dramatic Universe and What are we living for? His search reached an explosive climax when Pak Subuh, the founder of the international spiritual movement Subud, came to England in 1957.
Anthony Bright-Paul gives an acutely observed account of the Gurdjieff methods as performed and practised at Coombe Springs with John Bennett, and a first-hand account of both the euphoria and the upheaval caused by the arrival of Pak Subuh who brought with him the latihan kejiwaan, the spiritual training of Subud.
Because he was so devoted to the ideas of Gurdjieff, and to John Bennett personally, the story of his initial resistance to Subud and then his complete reversal makes poignant and dramatic reading. His chronicle of the early days in Subud in the western world is unique for its detail of this period.
This is a book written for seekers after the truth; Students of Vedanta, members of the Society of Friends, students of Raja Yoga and Sufi mysticism, and those who have been in The Work and studied the methods of G.I.Gurdjieff will all find deep resonances in its pages.
Anthony Bright-Paul
