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Psychology and the Work

March 14, 2026

The word psychology comes from the Greek words psyche (soul, mind, breath of life) and logia (study of, knowledge of), literally meaning the "study of the soul" or "study of the mind.”  While etymologically rooted in concepts of the spirit and mind, the modern field of psychology evolved to scientifically study behavior and mental processes, moving beyond just the soul to encompass human experience, cognition, and behavior.

What is the role of psychology in the Gurdjieff work, and why has psychology been relegated to such a small area of people's interest in the Work?

It is often difficult for people who have been involved in the Work for many years to admit that, in addition to cosmology, psychology is an integral aspect of the Work. This is perhaps due to Ouspensky’s concentration in his book, In Search of the Miraculous, on the scientific aspects of work, specifically the cosmology, hydrogens and the creation of the Universe. Although the first part of the book gives a brief description of the psychology of human beings and the automatic nature of their behavior, psychology is not overly emphasized.

However, when one looks at the Work itself, especially Gurdjieff’s writings, that is, All and Everything, Meetings With Remarkable Men, and Life is Real Then, Only When I Am, one can easily see that these books are psychological treatises on the behavior of human beings. Especially All and Everything, it is an historical, metaphorical, psychological explanation of the inner working of human beings and how their inner working, according to Mr. Gurdjieff, was modified. The modification resulted in the abnormal behavior that came to be. Mr. Gurdjieff places the cause of our abnormal behavior on an organ that was inserted in our ancient human ancestors and which he refers to as Kundabuffer. The organ was placed in order that human beings would not prematurely realize the reason for their existence and kill themselves.

Whether or not Kundabuffer was a real organ, a metaphorical creation, or a psychological result of unexpected or accidental human development is not supremely important to the question that we will explore. The reality that most normal people can agree with is that human beings and their behavior is extremely negative and injurious to each other and to the planet. Abnormal human behavior is a psychological problem, not simply an economic, cultural, historical, astronomical, or sociological problem. The Work in its essence, is a psychological work. Only to the degree that a man or woman understands their own psychology can they become masters of themselves and their behavior. Gurdjieff is very clear about this and defines the psychological aim that a normal person must work to develop the ability to do conscious labor and intentional suffering or being-Partkdolg-duty.

In All and Everything, Gurdjieff describes three different types of psychological reasons that are possible for human beings to have. The first type of reason is what he calls ordinary reason, that is, none other than the accidental repetition of shocks within the cognitive brain that elicits the same thoughts and behavior over and over again—this is the reason that we have. The next higher type of reason possible for humans is that of the development of the emotional center and is the Kesdjan body, which is the first step in developing real reason. The third type of reason is what Gurdjieff refers to as objective reason, which is the reason characteristic of the Creator himself. In order to understand these types of reasons and the differences between them, we must study ourselves psychologically.

Ouspensky describes Gurdjieff explaining the structure of the human organism as being composed of seven discrete brains with three primary brains—this structure is a psychological construct. The reason for such a construct is that it allows for the possibility of not only knowing about my behavior, but also allows for the possibility of understanding my behavior. Gurdjieff wants us to understand our behavior because there is a great difference between knowledge and understanding. There is a knowledge of knowing, which our society is very adept at gaining and has developed AI and various search engines to bombard us with the data of knowing. But data by itself is insufficient for psychological understanding because psychological understanding requires an understanding of dependent on three-brained perception, that is, the moving center brain, the emotional center brain, and the intellectual center brain. It is only by the digestion of the impressions of these three brains that true psychological understanding can be experienced.

Modern psychology offers a number of frameworks that all those involved in the Work need to become familiar with. We all need to take Psychology 101 and understand it experientially through our own self-study, self-observation, sensing, sitting practices and the Movements. All of the latter are fields of psychological self-study if we make the effort to use them correctly. Let us be open to learning more about what psychological understanding can bring to the Work.