International Academy for Continuous Education
International Academy for Continuous Education
Founded in 1971 by mathematician-philosopher J. G. Bennett to propagate the Fourth Way work of Georgei Ivanovitch Gurdjieff. It aimed "to achieve, in a short space of time, the effective transmission of a whole corpus of practical techniques for self-development and self-liberation, so that people could learn effectively to direct their own inner work and to adapt to the rapid changes in the inner and outer life of man." The organization was based in Sherborne House, a Victorian mansion in the Cotswold countryside of Britain. Students studied psychology, art, history, cosmology, and linguistics and practiced spiritual and psychological exercises that were demanding at all levels—mental, physical, and emotional.
After Bennett's death in 1974 the academy expected considerable changes, largely necessitated by the evolution brought about by the inner and outer work of the students. In fact the organization soon ceased to exist, though work in the Bennett tradition continues in the United States through the Claymont Society for Continuous Education.