Willem A. Nyland was born in Utrecht, Holland. A chemist by profession, he came to the United States and earned his doctorate at Columbia University. In 1924 he and his wife, the artist Ilonka Karasz, heard Mr. Gurdjieff speak during Gurdjieff’s first visit to the United States. After this first encounter, the Nylands began to work closely with Gurdjieff’s representative in America, A. R. Orage. Thereafter, they both remained active in the Gurdjieff teaching and often traveled to France to see Gurdjieff.

     Mr. Nyland and his wife were the first persons to visit Mr. Gurdjieff in Paris immediately after the 2nd World War had ended in Europe in 1945, and it was then that he was asked by Mr. Gurdjieff to start a small group in New York for which he would receive material from Mr. Gurdjieff himself every week. After Gurdjieff died in 1949, Mr. Nyland was one of the founders and trustees of the Gurdjieff Foundation. He remained active in the Foundation until he formed his own independent groups in the early 1960s. This lead to the formation of a group in New York and subsequently others around the country. Mr Nyland always insisted that Gurdjieff s ideas must be applied in the midst of daily activities if they are to result in anything real.

    Anyone who has listened to a few of the 2600 recordings of meetings with Mr. Nyland, made between 1954 and his death in 1975, cannot help but feel that Mr. Nyland was extraordinarily devoted to the Gurdjieff teaching. His strength lay in his combination of clarity, honesty, practicality, and perspective. His spirit and attitude, coupled with his teacher’s gift for clarity and communication, continue to be the hallmarks of our group.