There has always existed, on this island, a deep well of spiritual potential, and now the greatly changed Ireland of the 21st century is rediscovering it. When the search for meaning in the midst of meaninglessness led to the Gurdjieff teaching being brought to Ireland in recent years, in response to a newly arisen need, it was as if ancient dried seeds, watered for the first time, began to come to life. Nurtured by teachers who worked with Gurdjieff's closest disciples, the seeds have germinated, and are thriving. There is an international flavour too, the Irish core working alongside members drawn from Europe, the Middle East, South America and South Africa.

How this Gurdjieff 'Work' translates into practice, has been well documented by those who lived and worked at the Chateau du Prieuré outside Paris in the 1920s. It is no different today at Bray, outside London, or at La Thebaudiere in Normandy, a venue to which many of the Irish members have travelled in recent years.

In Ireland, the demographic distribution of group members is such that venues for the monthly residential 'Work' weekends must alternate, in order to accommodate, in turn, those furthest afield.

These ordinary men and women come to the 'weekends', because each is pursuing an individual search. Each acknowledges that it is only in these group situations that this is possible. The Movements, an integral part of the teaching, are taught. The type of practical work has not changed with time, and the kitchen and kitchen gardens of the Prieuré have their counterparts here. The purpose is the same, in keeping with an injunction as ancient as Hermes Trismegistus or Socrates: 'Know Thyself'