One of the most fascinating people of the Twentieth-Century was a Russian of Greek Ancestry named George Gurdjieff. As a young man he studied with many esoteric, probably Sufi, teachers before going first to St. Petersburg, then to France to set himself up as a teacher of esoteric spirituality.

After the revolution, evidence suggests he spent time as a Czarist or White spy, however nothing came of the White Revolution, and he made it safely back to France where he died after World War II.

One can, and I will, argue that he did foresee the promise of the Internet. He wouldn't have liked it. As an esoteric, he emphasized the importance of direct transmission between teachers and pupils, and his remaining disciples will talk about the Work, which includes both exersises like zen and dance exercises: To them studying him from a book is not studying him at all. Nevertheless he left three books: