‘William Segal was interested in Eastern thought and meditation. He studied with many religious leaders of the twentieeth century. Zen pioneers D.T. Suzuki and Paul Reps were personal friends. He studied with G. I. Gurdjieff in the forties and guided others in the Gurdjieff teaching for many years.’[1] ‘He was an American magazine publisher and self-taught artist. Segal is known for his self-portraits and his belief in self-discovery through art. Segal was the subject of three short documentary films made by his friend, Ken Burns.’[2]

 

 

The following excerpt, that includes the excerpt that is quoted by Azize to support his case of Zen influenced “sittings”, is taken from A Voice at the Borders of Silence: An Intimate View of the Gurdjieff Work, Zen Buddhism, and Art, which is published posthumously and edited by Mark Magill.

 

 

On the Gurdjieff Work

A Conversation with Peter Brook and Michel de Salzmann

 

…

Peter Brook: What was your experience coming back from the Zen monasteries to the practices of the Work? What did you find in making the link between a very pure, nameless experience and of these different practices?

 

William Segal: I must confess that I was a great proponent of meditation, which I felt was lacking in the Gurdjieff Work in the 1940’s. I was in Japan in 1952. I had my own experience after three or four months in the headquarters of the Soto Zen Monastery. I came out and said, “My God, I’ve been in the Gurdjieff Work for seven or eight years, and here after three months, I made a leap.” I felt that this practice of formal sitting of Zazen was lacking in the Gurdjieff Work at the time. Then Madame de Salzmann did institute it. She probably had that practice going in its own way, but I felt it needed a more formal adherence. We needed more “sittings.” Trying to speak from the moment, as we do in our practice and in the groups, leads one to the same place. It’s not very clear but one doesn’t obviously say, “Oh yes, I’m in touch with something.”

 

Peter Brook: No, we don’t. If, on the one hand, in Zen, there is this particularity you speak of, working with others in a group has something that doesn’t exist in Zen and which has its own path. Do you feel that a group has something very specific?

 

William Segal: I think it does. There are groups and discussions, but the form of the Gurdjieff Work is quite specific and quite indigenous to the Gurdjieff teaching. … [3]

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For other excerpts from the book, A Voice at the Border’s of Silence, see: 

https://www.gurdjieff.org/segal2.htm

 

For more about William Segal see:

https://www.gurdjieff.org/segal.htm

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[1] https://www.gurdjieff.org/segal.htm [accessed 04-03-2020]

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Segal [accessed 04-03-2020]

[3] William Segal with Marielle Cancou-Segal, A Voice at the Borders of Silence: An Intimate View of the Gurdjieff Work, Zen Buddhism, and Art(New York: The Overlook Press, 2003) pp.196-197.

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