The methodology and perspective of a teaching, a system of philosophy, or a religion are very different from the methodology and aim of modern science. Nevertheless, the search for a real relationship between science and such fields of study would, in our opinion, be worthwhile. Such a relationship could be established if the teaching, the philosophical system, or the religion in question derives from a philosophy of nature. The fact that Gurdjieff's teaching contains a philosophy of nature is obvious, and the present study will attempt to support that affirmation. At the same time, it is impossible to study man without studying the universe.
Man is an image of the world.
He was created by the same laws which created the whole of the world. By knowing and understanding himself, he will know and understand the whole world, all the laws that create and govern the world. And at the same time, by studying the world and the laws that govern the world, he will learn and understand the laws which govern him. The study of the world and the study of man must therefore run parallel, the one helping the other. The comparison between modern science and this type of philosophy goes beyond an intellectual exercise.