In Search of the Remarkable
A Gurdjieffian pilgrimage
An outer journey through Central Asia and an inner journey through Meetings with Remarkable Men.
PLANNED FOR 2029
Dates and itinerary in development.
Across landscapes.
Toward a deeper question.
A book becomes a living inquiry.
Travel with Trent and a contemporary group of seekers through landscapes connected with Gurdjieff’s life and the world of Meetings with Remarkable Men.
Through meditation, close reading, thoughtful conversation and encounters with historical places, we will explore the book as both a journey of discovery and an invitation to examine our own lives.
In the footsteps of Gurdjieff
We will travel along stretches of the old Silk Road through Central Asia, visiting places important in Gurdjieff’s life and in Meetings with Remarkable Men, among them Tashkent, Bukhara and Kars, and ending in Istanbul. We will include only sites that are safe and open to travel.
Some legs of the journey will be by train, and accommodations will balance comfort with reasonable cost. Before we set out, virtual study sessions will prepare the ground. Along the way we will keep reading the text closely together, with time for reflection.
- Virtual study sessions before departure
- Central Asia and the Silk Road, partly by train
- Close reading and reflection along the way
- Ending in Istanbul
Traveling with Trent
Trent J. Thornley has spent many years in close study of G. I. Gurdjieff’s life, writings and teachings, and has practiced the Gurdjieff Movements on retreat.
He is especially drawn to what a sacred text reveals when it is read slowly, with attention to its underlying structure. His master’s thesis at the Graduate Theological Union traced the mirror-image literary structure underlying the Discourse on the Noble Search, one of the oldest accounts of the Buddha’s own search for awakening. Seeing that deeper structure brings new insight to the teachings themselves.
A teacher, chaplain and certified CPE educator, and a past president of the International Enneagram Association, Trent brings that same close attention to Meetings with Remarkable Men, read together along the way.
Begin with an expression of interest.
Prior participation in at least one of Trent’s Gurdjieff reading courses is required. Places will be offered by invitation. Expressing your interest is welcome, though it does not guarantee a place.
You can express interest before completing a reading course. This is an interest list, not an application, booking or payment request.
Portrait of G. I. Gurdjieff: Janet Flanner–Solita Solano papers, Library of Congress (95507085), via Wikimedia Commons; no known restrictions on publication. Map: Map of Central Asia on the basis of the surveys made by British and Russian officers to 1881, reproduced in Science, 1885, Library of Congress (2004629034), public domain. The historical map is atmosphere only: it is not the route of the journey or a guide to present-day borders. Book jacket: Meetings with Remarkable Men, first American edition (E. P. Dutton, 1963), shown to identify the book; jacket design © its publisher; photo courtesy of Ken Sanders Rare Books. Railway photograph: Farab station, Turkmenistan, about 1911, by Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii, Library of Congress (prokc.20144), via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Living Enneagram is not affiliated with any Gurdjieff Foundation. Privacy.
