Michel de Salzmann

Gurdjieff International Review

Dr. Michel de Salzmann

1923–2001

Michel de Salzmann - The Gurdjieff Institute of Geneva

Michel de Salzmann, son of Jeanne de Salzmann was a doctor of psychiatry. After her death, he was looked to as the leader of the Gurdjieff Foundations worldwide. He and wife Josée held many summer work sessions at Chandolin, in the Swiss Alps which were attended by members of groups from many countries. Michel was instrumental in forming the International Association of Gurdjieff Foundations.

Michel de Salzmann

Members of the worldwide Gurdjieff community grieve the loss of Dr. Michel de Salzmann on August 4, 2001.

G. I. Gurdjieff by Michel de Salzmann

Dr. de Salzmann provides an informed and thoughtful synopsis of Gurdjieff’s life, writings and influence as “an incomparable ‘awakener’ of men” and spiritual teacher who “left behind him a school embodying a specific methodology for the development of consciousness… The Gurdjieff teaching has emerged … as one of the most penetrating spiritual teachings of modern times.”

The Gurdjieff Foundation

The Gurdjieff Foundation, the largest organization directly linked to Mr. Gurdjieff, was organized by Jeanne de Salzmann during the early 1950s and led by her, in cooperation with other direct pupils, until her death in 1990. From that year until his recent passing in August 2001, Michel de Salzmann directed the network of Gurdjieff foundations, societies, and institutes.

How To Live Simply?

“Forget all you know about the Work. Its terms are an obstacle for you now. Avoid this old reductionism. Be new. Only then can you wish with real feeling, with love.”

He Was a Real Threat

“But at the moment when this threat appeared, like a ditch to cross, a threshold to step over, one was helped to cross it by [Gurdjieff’s] presence itself.”

An Act of Questioning

“Little attention: little question.”

A Sacred Energy Coming Into Me

Intimations from Michel de Salzmann of possible ever deepening experiences of attention. “There is a subtle energy penetrating the body, moving through it, and I can perceive that because I am a human being. With a very active attention, I can receive this energy.”