Who are we?

Gurdjieff Society Finland (SGS) was founded in 2003 to manage the outer affairs related to the inner work of the Helsinki groups, such as renting a space and having a bank account. Nowadays the Association helps support the inner work of all related Finnish Gurdjieff groups by taking care of the outer arrangements.

SGS is run by a board that is elected in the yearly meeting. It is a very simple and ordinary association that collects a small fee to cover the costs of operation.

The board is, however, not responsible for the content of the inner work of the groups organized by the Association. This responsibility has belonged to Bob Reinstein since the beginning. He advices and guides the groups. Bob has extensive connections to Gurdjieff groups around the world.

Bob's own teacher was Hugh Ripman, whom Gurdjieff asked to found a group in Washington just before his death. Ripman was originally a student of Ouspensky's, but he was also recongnized as a master of several other traditions.

Ripman developed his approach with Jeanne de Salzmann and other key figures in the work. He led groups, for example, with Henri Tracol in Paris. Ripman describes inner work in his text Supreme Adventure.

SGS continues the Ripman legacy by trying to keep the heart of the Gurdjieff work alive and by offering a fertile soil for its further development. In the focus of the "Ripman line" are Presence and Work on Being. For us the forms and methods developed by Gurdjieff are not an absolute in themselves. For us foremost is the living quality of inner work, allowing it to grow stronger and deeper.

Bob has a long history also as a practitioner of Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. In his formulation the Four Cornerstones are Aim, Attention, Presence and Self-Observation..

SGS works together with many groups belonging to the International Association of Gurdjieff Foundations, but is not founded or led by any of them.