Willem A. Nyland

Gurdjieff International Review

Willem A. Nyland

1890–1975

Mr. Nyland was known for his clarity and seriousness as an early student of Gurdjieff in America. He applied Gurdjieff’s teaching in his life and reached a level of development recognized by all who met him. He always placed the emphasis on Gurdjieff’s own teachings and books, with little reliance on secondary material. In particular, he stressed the importance of making efforts to understand All and Everything, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, and insisted that the book be read three times exactly as Gurdjieff indicated. He also taught the specific methods for Working on oneself which he had learned from A. R. Orage and later Gurdjieff, and that it was necessary to actually apply Gurdjieff’s methods of Work in daily life rather than merely thinking and feeling about the ideas.

Mr. Nyland’s Groups

Near the end of his life, Mr. Gurdjieff asked Mr. Nyland to start a group in America, for which he would receive special material from Gurdjieff every week. After Gurdjieff died in 1949, Mr. Nyland was one of the founders and trustees of the Gurdjieff Foundation. He remained active in the Foundation until he formed his own independent groups in the early 1960s. These groups continue to operate today.

A Remembrance of W. A. Nyland: In the Ear and Eye of the Beholder

Terry Winter Owens, former student of Willem Nyland, notes that “With the passage of half a century since the death of Gurdjieff, it becomes increasingly obvious that there now flourish a number of different threads of the Gurdjieff work… As yet, little has been written about W. A. Nyland although he had a profound impact on many people.”

Mr. Nyland and the Piano

Composer Terry Winter Owens describes what occurred when Willem Nyland asked her to go examine a Steinway grand piano that Timothy Leary had offered as a gift in the early 1960s.