Ouspensky, Petyr Demianovich (1878–1947) Mathematician and mystic Petyr Demianovich Ouspensky wrote numerous books related to the occult, including The Symbolism of the Tarot: Philosophy of Occultism in Pictures and Numbers, and promoted the idea that there was another, higher level of reality, which he referred to as the fourth dimension. He also developed the theory that in various places of the world there were hidden learning centers where mystics taught ancient knowledge to those who came seeking it. Ouspensky looked for these centers himself but could not find them. He did, however, find a teacher: Russian mystic George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff. Ouspensky spent several years with this mystic before founding his own teaching center, the Society for the Study of Normal Man. Later he worked on Gurdjieff’s writings, translating them to make them more accessible to Western readers; perhaps his best-known effort in this regard was In Search of the Miraculous—Fragments of an Unknown Teaching and Answers to Questions Based on the Teaching of G.I. Gurdjieff.
FURTHER READING:
SEE ALSO:
- Gurdjieff, George Ivanovitch;
- Mysticism
SOURCE:
The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Paranormal Phenomena – written by Patricia D. Netzley © 2006 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning