BIO

William Patrick Patterson was a leading exponent and teacher of The Fourth Way, the ancient, esoteric teaching of self-development brought to the West by G. I. Gurdjieff. Practicing its principles of self-sensing, breathing, stopping thought and dividing the attention between subject and object, Patterson verified that he was not an indivisible I but many ‘I’s, as Mr. Gurdjieff maintained. Learning to become sincere, the deepening experience led to the creation of the Work I, conscious egotist, and to the individual self. Patterson was a longtime student of his seminal teacher Lord John Pentland, who was appointed by Gurdjieff in 1949 to lead the Work in America. He helped found many study groups throughout America and acted as president of the New York and San Francisco Gurdjieff Foundations from 1954 until his death in 1984.

Recognizing that Gurdjieff’s repeated use of the word “self” in self-sensing, self-remembering and self-observation pointed to an even higher level of Being, he came to California where he met the rare-born Danish mystic Sunyata, the name given to Alfred Emmanuel Sorenson in 1936 by Advaita sage Ramana Maharshi. As Sunya had recognized Oneness from birth, he saw in ordinary life “there was nothing to teach, nothing to sell.” It was all “shakti-business.” Patterson attended his weekly satsangs and beginning in 1982 Sunya lived with Patterson and his family. Through his Beingness, Patterson was introduced directly to “no-thingness” and the first experiencing of no-self. In 1984, at the age of 94, Sunya died. Fortunately, the previous year he had introduced Patterson to his Advaita friend Dr. Jean Klein, a Czech medical doctor and an Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shavism Master. After nine years of combining Work principles with Klein’s level-less teaching, Patterson was told he would soon “come through” but warned “don’t become Shiva.” Experiencing the Self as Consciousness-with-no-object (and therefore no subject), he continued the exploration with Dr. Klein until his death in 1998.

Deeply centered in stillness and silence, Dr. Klein also provided the foundation for a subtle, energetic experiencing of non-doing which slowly dissolved the body-mind to the blank state of which there was only awareness and that awared which then dissolved further into the double-absence.

Patterson integrated Work principles with his teacher’s body-breath-self approach, and spoke of it as a form of Haida yoga. This, along with active-being mentation, working with connecting centers, to being-in-contemplation, Patterson perceived the fulfilling of Gurdjieff’s presentation of the teaching of The Fourth Way as being “completely self-supporting and independent of other [spiritual] lines.”

He founded and directed The Online Fourth Way School, led groups, and gave seminars and talks throughout the United States for many years. He wrote ten books on the teaching and directed, wrote and narrated the award-winning film trilogy The Life & Significance of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff as well as the film, Spiritual Pilgrimage to Mr. Gurdjieff’s Father’s Grave. He has also completed the DVD series Introduction to Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way which includes From Selves to Individual Self to The Self, The Movement From Sex To Love, and What Is the Meaning of Human Life on the Planet Earth?

He also founded and edited The Gurdjieff Journal (est. 1992), the first domestic and international Fourth Way journal.

In order to spread the teaching as fully as possible—Mr. Gurdjieff’s last wish—Mr. Patterson dedicated his life to leading Fourth Way Study Groups throughout the United States and directing The Online Fourth Way School worldwide.

Published Books

Eating The “I”: A Direct Account of The Fourth Way (Fairfax, CA: Arete Communications,1992)
Struggle of the Magicians (Fairfax, CA: Arete Communications, 1998)
Struggle of the Magicians (Greek translation, Thessalonika, Greece: Metaekdotiki, 1999)
Taking with the Left Hand (Fairfax, CA: Arete Communications, 1998)
Taking with the Left Hand (Japanese translation, Tokyo, Japan: The English Agency, 2004)
Ladies of the Rope (Fairfax, CA: Arete Communications, 1998)
French translation, Gurdjieff et Les Femmes de la Cordée (Paris, France: La Table Ronde, 2005)
Voices in the Dark (Fairfax, CA: Arete Communications, 2000)
The Life & Teachings of Carlos Castaneda (Fairfax, CA: Arete Communications, 2008)
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time (Fairfax, CA: Arete Communications, 2009)
Adi Da Samraj: Realized or/and Deluded? (Fairfax, CA: Arete Communications, 2011)
Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff—The Man, The Teaching, His Mission (Fairfax, CA: Arete Communications 2014)
Teachers of No-Thing & Nothing: Eating The “I” Parts II & III (Fairfax, CA: Arete Communications 2020)

The Gurdjieff Journal

William Patrick Patterson is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Gurdjieff Journal (est. 1992).

Selection of Articles
In Other Publications

“Redemption from Redemption,” Yoga Journal, July/August 1990
“Silence Was His Specialty,” Gnosis Magazine, Spring 1993
“Don’t Force Read This Book,” Gnosis Magazine, Fall 1997
“The Question of Truth,” Revue 3 Millénaire, Paris, France, #81 2006
“The Profound Question of Energy,” Revue 3 Millénaire, Paris, France, #82 2006
“The Question of Rebirth,” Revue 3 Millénaire, Paris, France, #83 2007
“The Unheard Symphony,” Revue 3 Millénaire, Paris, France, #92 2009

Filmography

Introduction to Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way, Vol. 3: What Is the Meaning of Human Life on the Planet Earth?
Introduction to Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way, Vol. 2: The Movement From Sex To Love
Introduction to Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way, Vol.1: From Selves to individual Self to The Self
Spiritual Pilgrimage: Mr. Gurdjieff’s Father’s Grave
William Patrick Patterson Explores The Life & Teachings of Carlos Castaneda
The Life & Significance of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Part III — Gurdjieff’s Legacy: Establishing The Teaching in the West, 1924–1949
The Life & Significance of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Part II — Gurdjieff’s Mission: Introducing The Teaching to the West, 1912–1924
The Life & Significance of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Part I — Gurdjieff in Egypt: The Origin of Esoteric Knowledge

Published Interviews

“The Fourth Way Teaching,” Monthly Aspectarian, February, 2001
“The Making of the Gurdjieff Trilogy,” Evolve Magazine, 2004

Radio Interviews

Seeing Beyond, Bonnie Colleen, February 2009
Voice America Network, Michael Kell, October 9, 2009
Radio 3Fourteen, Lana Lokteff, September 18, 2013
SOTT Talk Radio, Joe Quinn and Niall Bradley, September 7, 2014
Simple Life Radio with Cynthia Fernandes, April, 2015

Editorial Reviews

Eating The “I”. Library Journal, 1991
Eating The “I”. Yoga Journal, November 1991
Eating The “I”. Gnosis, Summer 1992
Eating The “I”. Rainbow City Express, July 1992
Eating The “I”. In Pittsburgh, November 4, 1993
Eating The “I”. Syzygy, Winter-Spring 1993
Eating The “I”. Free Press, January 26, 1993
Eating The “I”. Fate, July 1994
Struggle of the Magicians. Rapport, January/February 1996
Struggle of the Magicians. Gnosis, Spring 1996
Struggle of the Magicians. Inner Journeys, Spring 1996
Struggle of the Magicians. Light of Consciousness, Spring 1996
Struggle of the Magicians. NAPRA Review, Summer 1996
Struggle of the Magicians. Mudra, Fall 1996
Taking with the Left Hand. The Bookwatch, November 1997
Taking with the Left Hand. Publishers Weekly, December 1997
Ladies of the Rope. Reviewer’s Bookwatch, November 1998
Ladies of the Rope. The Midwest Book Review, December 1998
Ladies of the Rope. Abiegnus, November 1998
Ladies of the Rope. Inner Journeys, Spring 1999
Ladies of the Rope. Conscious Life, April 1999
Taking with The Left Hand. Caliber, University of California Press, George Adams, April, 1999
Struggle of the Magicians. Caliber, University of California Press, George Adams, October, 1999
Voices in the Dark. Publishers Weekly, December 11, 2000
Gurdjieff in Egypt (film). Convergence Magazine, Summer 2000
Eating The “I”. Common Ground, Summer 2000
Eating The “I”. Inner Words, November/December 2000
Voices in the Dark. The Bookwatch, February 2001
Voices in the Dark. Wisconsin Bookwatch, September 2001
Ladies of The Rope. Inner Words, January/February 2001
Struggle of the Magicians. Whole Life Times, March 2001
Voices in the Dark. Ralph Magazine, #88 Late Fall 2002
Gurdjieff’s Legacy (film). New Age Retailer, May 2004
Eating The “I”. Living Traditions, May 2004
The Life & Significance of G. I. Gurdjieff (documentary trilogy). Living Traditions, May 2007
The Gurdjieff Journal. Library Journal, November 2007
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. Revue 3 Millénaire, Spring 2009
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. The Bookwatch, May 2009
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. Arizona Networking News, June 2009
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. Small Press Bookwatch, June 2009
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. Light of Consciousness, Summer 2009
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time. New Dawn, July/August 2010
The Life & Teachings of Carlos Castaneda. New Dawn, September/October 2010
Eating The “I”. New Dawn Magazine, November/December 2010
Introduction To Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way: From Selves To Individual Self To The Self. New Dawn Magazine, March/April 2013
Adi Da Samraj Realized or/and Deluded?. New Dawn Magazine, September/October 2013
Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff — The Man, The Teaching, His Mission. Collective Evolution, January 2014
Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff — The Man, The Teaching, His Mission. Living Traditions Magazine, February 2014
Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff — The Man, The Teaching, His Mission. Midwest Book Review, February 2014
Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff — The Man, The Teaching, His Mission. Library Journal, March 2014
Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff — The Man, The Teaching, His Mission. Parabola, August 2014

Websites

The Gurdjieff Legacy Foundation: The Teaching for Our Time  GurdjieffLegacy.org
The Online Fourth Way School  OnlineFourthWaySchool.org
The Fourth Way Teaching  FourthWayTeaching.org
The Gurdjieff Journal  GurdjieffJournal.org
Gurdjieff Videos  GurdjieffVideos.org
Gurdjieff Books & Videos  GurdjieffBooks.org
The Gurdjieff Legacy Foundation Bay Area Gurdjieff-BayArea.org
The Gurdjieff Legacy Foundation Sacramento Gurdjieff-Sacramento.org
Used Esoteric Books UsedEsoteric.com