“Like Thomas Merton in The Seven Story Mountain and Augustine in his Confessions, Jim Opie bares his sins and personal flaws, giving the text a bracing honesty that creates a baseline from which the reader can assess what effect a half century of inner and outer work have had on the author.” —Jeff Zaleski, editor and publisher of Parabola

“Through the lens of autobiography, James Opie offers us refreshing insights into a profound spiritual path.” —John Shirley, author of Gurdjieff: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas

“I found your book as engaging as a gripping novel.” —Beresford Parlett, Professor Emeritus of Pure and Applied Mathematics, the University of California at Berkeley

“In Jim Opie’s writings, personal narratives point the way toward the fundamental questions of life, and answers we all may find.” —Jacob Needleman (d. 2022), philosopher, scholar, mystic

“‘What makes a man is his ability to question himself’—words from Michel de Salzmann recorded in this book and speaking to what the book is. Reaching a plateau from which he could view his life as a whole, Jim Opie shares the joys and sorrows, luminous encounters and instructive errors that have been his lot for a half-century. I have long known Jim as an expert on Middle Eastern carpets—but I didn’t realize that he nearly belonged for years to the weaving and merchant communities of Afghanistan and Iran. I have known Jim as a seeker of truth in the full Gurdjieffian meaning of those words—but until reading this book I couldn’t trace his itinerary among people and places, some little known and well worth knowing. This is the record of a multi-colored life, well-woven.” —Roger Lipsey, author of Gurdjieff Reconsidered

“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.” —Kirkus Reviews