Abstract: Mantiq Ut-tair, The Conference of the Birds, was composed in the twelfth century by the Persian poet, Farid ud-Din Attar, in the form of an allegorical poem, based on the teaching of the Sufis, of whom Attar was one of the greatest. The book is, as Attar says, ‘A gift for distinguished men and a boon for the common’. Translation: This translation by C. S. Nott was first published in 1954 and at that time only two partial translations were available in England. Stanley Nott’s rendering from the French prose translation of Garcin de Tassy is virtually complete, and as such was the ﬁrst to appear in English. Garcin de Tassy’s translation is as he says, ‘as literal as I have been able to make it intelligible’. He has also retained the flavour, the spirit, and the teaching of Attar’s poem. The brush drawings by Kate Adamson are based on those in an ancient Persian manuscript of Mantiq Ut-tair. Additional content: The appendix of this book includes a note about Attar, a short section on the Sufis and a glossary of some of the names and other words used throughout the text.

The Conference of the Birds

Religion & Spirituality

Attâr, Farîd-ud-Dîn

Islam

Toward Publishing

About this book This is a first hand account of a disillusioned young man who, having travelled round the world studying various ways and religions, finally meets Gurdjieff in New York, and is convinced by seeing the demonstrations of sacred dances that at last he has found the Way he is looking for. The book, compiled from hundreds of pages of notes and diaries, is a record of sayings and doings of Gurdjieff and their impact on the young pupil at that time. It has also a description of life at the Château du Prieuré as experienced by the pupil. The journal is not an exposition of the theory of the Gurdjieff system; it is rather an account of the cumulative effect on one person of practical work in an authentic esoteric school. Note: C. S. Nott's sequel Further Teachings of Gurdjieff: Journey Through This World and his translation of Conference of the Birds are also available in Kindle format from Toward Publishing. Basic information about Gurdjieff Gurdjieff was born in Armenia around 1870. His first tutor was a priest and he also received a scientific education in surroundings and a way of life that had changed little for centuries. To his questions: Who am I? Why am I here? he found no answer either in religion or in science, but suspected that the truth lay hidden behind what had come down from the past in religious traditions and those strange myths and legends which he learned from his father, a traditional bard or 'ashokh'. With inspired like-minded companions, he set out to find in Asia and Africa the truth he sought, learning many languages, and acquiring many practical skills to earn the money for his journeys. In 1912 he brought to Moscow an unknown teaching, a teaching that was neither a religion, nor a philosophy, but a practical teaching to be lived. He called this teaching 'The Fourth Way'. To follow the way he proposed, nothing is to be believed until verified by direct experience and life in the world is not to be renounced. It is a way in life, on which - gradually, for it cannot be done all at once - everything has to be questioned - one's beliefs, assumptions, attitudes, one's whole outlook on the life of man on this Earth. “Man is asleep”, said Gurdjieff, “he has no real consciousness or will. He is not free; to him, everything 'happens'. He can become conscious and find his true place as a human being in the creation, but this requires a profound transformation”. Gurdjieff calls us to awaken, telling us: "Man's possibilities are very great. You cannot even conceive a shadow of what man is capable of attaining. But nothing can be attained in sleep. In the consciousness of a sleeping man his illusions, his 'dreams' are mixed with reality. He lives in a subjective world and he can never escape from it. And this is the reason why he can never make use of all the powers he possesses and why he lives in only a small part of himself."

Teachings of Gurdjieff: A Pupil's Journal

Nott, C.S.

This is the author’s second journal and a sequel to his Teachings of Gurdjieff: A Pupil’s Journal. C. S. Nott relates events in his life from 1927 to 1949, both in Europe and America, telling of meetings with Gurdjieff in France, his friendship with A. R. Orage in England, and his contact with P. D. Ouspensky in England and, during the war, in America. The book includes an account of the time the author and his family spent with the Frank Lloyd Wrights at their estate Taliesin, in Wisconsin, and tells of his life at The Putney School, Vermont. The book contains a summary of Gurdjieff's strange booklet, Herald of Coming Good, which Nott distributes for Gurdjieff, and to an account of his contact with the various Gurdjieff pupils, especially during the war. Throughout the narrative there runs as a central theme the teaching of Gurdjieff, its impact on the author and his striving to carry what he had received from Gurdjieff.

Further Teachings of Gurdjieff: Journey Through This World

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

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