E J GOLD & COMPANY

In the 1980's, after I returned from an eight year sojourn in South East Asia,mostly in the Philippines, I decided to renew my 'Gurdjieff Studies' among other interests I was pursuing at the time, and contacted the group that E.J.Gold headed up by buying some of the books, four, two video tapes, and also a 'picture' or sort of 'psychic' work that was said to be one of my 'essence' done by him, probably not exclusively, which I still have but have never opened or looked at and do not intend to do so,if at all until I am ready to exit everything. I also purchased, now that I recall, an audio tape of his which was interesting and discussed,mostly, whether or not Rembrandt had a school and,of course, compared it, in leading-up questions being evoked from those present at this 'banquet or meal-time'(they were and he was chewing on food, if I recall and so forth) to
gurdjieff's work,etc. Numerous phone calls to my residence from what I perceived as being those of 'young, charming, seductively-alluring voiced females extolled his genius, his abilities, his offerings(which were numerous, and urged me to come out to California or wherever he was located at the time and see for myself, perhaps to join and undertake the experiences and work possibly. I resisted the blandishments for several reasons, namely one that it would be expensive to up and move out there lock-stock,-and-barrel, to possibly join what might well be just another commune of 'hippies with a deeper philosophy,etc. E.J. and his followers were also wrapped up in Tibetan activities, that is, selling 'singing' bowls and other devices which were also very expensive but of 'the finest quality and tones'etc. so one of the young ladies assured me. When I bought the videos which were of the 'movments' the dances of Gurdjieff, she or another one( I can't recall their phone names anymore) even told me which dancer she was in the video and to look for her. I asked her some pointed questions as to one video which supposed to be one of Gurdjieff but she confessed that in the end, when G striped off his mask it was EJ and that the footage was not authentic stuff with G actually in it, but the shock of seeing this was, undoubtedly, devised to 'awaken' me in some way,etc. I asked her also if EJ or any of them had been to Tibet and if the bowls,etc. were from there, I think she said no to all of the questions and I surmised that EJ had and his followers had merely read and studied the literature on the subject that was there,etc. I decided not to buy any of the equipment that was 'Tibetan'. I was pursing some of my studies in Tibetan 'Wisdom' and had been in contact with a Tibetan monk in Nepal/India prior to coming back to the States. After purchasing the art work I soon lost contact with them and probably it was because I did not respond or react to my 'special portrait' as they might have expected and after moving away, I did not attempt to contact them again. Recently, after looking over my bookshelf with '
Gurdjieff Materials' I started reading the four books again and found some interesting things. I knew, of course, that his father had been a publisher of a science fiction magazine and that EJ had apparently written some himself, none of which I have read. I had seen his special '
AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DEAD in the stores somewhere but never felt compelled to buy it for obvious reasons, namely, I much actual Tibetan sources in a more direct manner. After looking at the books, I then went to the internet and searched for things on EJ and found quite a number of colorful sites and commercial enterprises(arts and crafts,etc.) being offered plus some u-tube videos of sorts that I added to my FACEBOOK PROFILE but really didn't watch that closely or listen to,again for obvious reasons, but the main one is that I do not have a computer. I then came across a rather rambling document that someone had placed in which some rather amusing revelations about EJ and her 'lover' were mentioned and some experiences that were made to appear that certain psychic/astral powers rendered 'psychotic' that is, enough to seek help and treatment, all of which makes me suspicious in that it seems more like an advertisement for those who are seeking certain 'powers' and 'pyschic' abilities rather than avoiding such. Anyone reading it may disagree with me,of course, but as to detering anyone from studying EJ's ideas seems remote unless one is a strict 'fundamentalist'. At the same time there is another document shown on the internet that praised EJ and extolls him. So take your pick. The important thing to remember is that EJ GOLD IS NOT ANOTHER GURDJIEFF, no matter how talented, artistic, intelligent, creative, or fascinating he may be, simply because HE DOES NOT COME FROM THE SAME SOURCE AS GURDJIEFF nor has he done anything like what Gurdjieff did or experienced,which is not to say that EJ Gold does not resemble and re-assemble some things that can be gleaned from the available literature or from groups that originally studied with Gurdjieff or his close pupils at some time.