David Bohm, the quantum physicist, became a leading advocate of dialogue by the end of the twentieth century. I was his student for a year while studying physics at Bristol and came to know him in various ways. Understanding Bohm’s approach to dialogue involves many threads which I will discuss using his etymology of the word: dia – through, and logos or meaning. I will also tell my personal story of discovery that started with the extraordinary spiritual teacher, George Gurdjieff and my quest for the historical meaning of modern science. This involved my mentor, the polymath John Bennett, who became Gurdjieff’s ‘representative in England’ in 1949. In my years with Bennett I acquired the burning question of how it might it be possible for people to learn to think together in mutuality. The practices of Gurdjieff and Bennett involve deep insights into self-awareness and group process which have now been augmented by modern psychology - for example, in the work of Bion and Foulkes, and of my colleague, Patrick de Mare, who introduced Bohm to the possible meaning of dialogue as koinonia - roughly translated as ‘impersonal fellowship’. Such dialogue cannot be reduced to some mechanical procedure. It cannot be taught by explanation. It requires what Gurdjieff expressed as understanding, as more than a conceptual model, but a living experience.
Anthony Blake studied Physics at Bristol and History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge. He worked closely with John Bennett from 1950 until Bennett’s death in 1974, after which he took over many of Bennett’s functions, including editing and compiling books from Bennett’s last lectures. After further collaborations with figures such as Edward Matchett, Patrick de Mare, Henri Bortoft and Robert Fripp, Tony cofounded the DuVersity in 1999 for research into dialogue, systematics and fourth way ideas. His publications include books on Dialogue, Time, the Enneagram and Higher Intelligence.
