BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Opie offers a look back on a life engaged with the Russian mystic thinker G.I. Gurdjieff.

From an early age, the author says, he was taken with the esoteric teachings of Gurdjieff: “a complete psychological and cosmological teaching that [describes] the human condition, including steps toward correcting inner imbalances”—a method called the “Gurdjieff Work.” Opie, who is originally from Ohio, found himself in California by the mid-1960s, and he details life in the bohemian Big Sur scene during a turbulent time in which he was surrounded by artists, philosophers, and seekers. There, he says, he began experimenting with LSD and found work as a substitute teacher; eventually, he felt spiritually moved to find fellow followers of Gurdjieff’s teachings and landed full-time work as an educator in Berkeley. Readers interested in Gurdjieff will learn about the specifics of this tradition, including intentionality, ego, different levels of being, and movement work. Most interestingly, Opie explains Gurdjieff’s call for human beings to “ponder, rather than believe.” This spirit of inquiry and reflection informs much of the book’s tone and spirit. The chapters involving fellow Gurdjieff acolytes and the curious zeitgeist of the 1960s and ’70s make for compelling reading. Opie’s story is also animated with stories from his life as a teacher, as well as his passion for Persian rugs, an interest that led to travels to Iran, prior to the 1979 revolution, and Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion. As a memoir, the text at times struggles to weave the Gurdjieff Work into accounts of everyday life. However, Opie is a skillful writer and narrator, and what he does share of his life story is generous and gracious, and by the end, many readers will likely want to learn more about Gurdjieff’s writings.

A worthy memoir steeped in an underdiscussed philosophical and spiritual tradition.