Gurdjieff is a Lohan

Prof. Denis Saurat

Saurat: "Gurdjieff is a Lohan. In China there is the cave of a hundred Lohans, presumably all that have appeared in China in over four thousand years. A Lohan is a man who has gone to schools and by incredible exertions and study has perfected himself. He then comes back into ordinary life, sits in cafes, drinks, has women, and lives the life of a man, but more intensely. It was accepted that the rules of ordinary man did not apply to him. He teaches, and people come to him to learn objective truths. In the East a Lohan was understood. The West does not understand. A teacher in the West must appear to behave like an English gentleman."
 

C.S. Nott: "Tell me, why in your view, did Ouspensky separate himself from Gurdjieff?"

Saurat: "The explanation is simple. Ouspensky is a professional philosopher who studied with Gurdjieff and has now set up a sort of rival school - a very good school for certain people, perhaps, but on a lower level than Gurdjieff´s school. Really, he is interested only in the theoretical side of the teaching. He hoped that the knowledge he got from Gurdjieff would classify and index his ideas, which it has, of course. But - Ouspensky could not submit to the pressure Gurdjieff brought to bear on him to break down his particular kind of vanity."

from C.S. Nott - Further Teachings of Gurdjieff p. 47