Mr. Smith’s Story

Welcome, you are about to embark on an incredible journey.

In the late 1970’s Russell Smith happened upon the teachings of George Gurdjieff, which he initially encountered in the printed works of P. D. Ouspensky. Mr. Smith saw so much truth contained therein that he immersed himself in their writings, spending sixteen hours a day reading, studying, and observing himself. He tells the story of how, during that time, he would start reading Ouspensky’s The Fourth Way on Monday and finish it on Friday, and then read it again the next week… and the next week… and the next week, etc.

This behavior continued for several months until one day something amazing happened: Mr. Smith found himself standing five feet beside himself watching himself.

He just stood there for some time watching himself watch himself. His thoughts stopped. He likens it to a statement from the Book of Revelation where it says, “There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”

On that day, after that moment, his life changed, and his efforts multiplied. He continued to read, study, and observe himself. The only difference was, there were now two people reading, studying, and observing him. It was, indeed, an amazing time.

Having awoke, Mr. Smith then put all of his attention on the other side of the work, the side regarding the Law of Three and the Law of Seven, which he had mostly passed over while he was concentrating on the Being side of the Work. However, he reasoned that if the Being side of the work could cause him to awaken, what secrets might be found in the other side. So, he put all his efforts into understanding the Laws of World-creation and World-maintenance.

Amazing discoveries were made, which later proved to be the secret behind finding an objective way to awaken; and, after which, became the bedrock of his book Gurdjieff: Cosmic Secrets (hereafter, often referred to as “Cosmic Secrets”). Much later, it became evident that anyone who understood the Rules and Laws could perform a simple exercise and awaken.

Over the next several years, the people who came into Mr. Smith’s life began to ask him questions about this Work. At first, he refrained from answering them; but, as they continued to approach him and ask questions, he finally gave in and began to answer them. After which, they became his students and he became their teacher.

They studied with him for many years, and during that time he shared with them his knowledge and understanding of the Fourth Way and of the Laws of World-creation and World-maintenance; and, after many years of observing him, they came to realize that he was in fact awake, which was something that they themselves wished for. So, they asked him again and again, “How do we awake?”

So, Mr. Smith put that question to his higher observer; and, he got an answer! And, when he shared that answer with his students… they awoke!

Later, Mr. Smith will reveal that answer; and, also explain why finding an objective way to awaken is so important.

After that event, it became collectively understood that the awakened state that his students were now experiencing was truly remarkable, which prompted them to make the following request, “We want you to be here full time… so quit your job and stay home. We will support you.” They further suggested that he should write a book and share his discoveries… saying, “There must be others like us out there, who also wish to awaken. So, let’s buy some land and have a place where people who are seeking an objective way can come and awake.”

So they bought some land, built some houses, and Mr. Smith wrote the book, Gurdjieff: Cosmic Secrets. It is self-published by his school, THEDOG, which is located just outside of Sanger, Texas – 50 miles north of Dallas.

After Cosmic Secrets was published, it drew global interest from the Fourth Way community and in 1996 an international conference was held in Bognor Regis, England to discuss his discoveries.

In 1997, a second conference was convened. At that conference, he informed the assembled audience that there was an objective way to awaken, but it required a ten-day journey studying Cosmic Secrets one-on-one with him.

He explained that he would show everyone who came to Texas how to awake; and, that there was no charge, no fee for showing them how to awaken. When they asked him why there was no charge for something so valuable? He responded, “How can I put a price tag on consciousness?”

Law-conformably, immediately after the second conference, people from all over the world began finding their way to Texas to complete their ten-day journey.

Since then, hundreds have come, awoke, and became students of THEDOG.