THE LAW OF THREE (81) War and The Third Force

 THE LAW OF THREE (81) WAR AND THE THIRD FORCE

"War creates no absolute new situation. It simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we no longer can ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice...we are mistaken when we compare war with "normal life". Life has never been normal.

CS Lewis. A sermon at Oxford University in 1939 in the mid of a global crisis.

War has occupied the headlines for thousands of years and the prayers for peace have lasted for as long, yet "human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice."

War creates no absolute new situation, but makes evident the limitations of a mind that divides the world into right and wrong and ignores the action of a Third Force that reconciles or regulates them both. War governs the play of two cosmic forces which alternate in dominance and lead the world to constant cyclical movement between the two.

At present, a large section of humanity is engaged in a familiar pattern of self-destruction, while simultaneously, other sections are actively fuelling the conflict with the power of negative emotions, weapons and misinformation.

As witnesses we can help or hinder a present conflict. If dominated by a dualistic perception we hinder the conflict by taking sides in the name of justice, peace, etc., hoping that our weapons or good intentions will eliminate the enemies.

However, a non-dual perceiver is aware of the presence of powers more subtle than drones and rockets. Historically, we have witnessed how all the walls, trenches, weapons, and self-defence mechanisms erected around dominant nations have proved fatal for those nations because destruction has always come from inside.

The real battle takes place within ourselves. It consists in the struggle of the will to separate two negative inner forces and refuse to take sides with either; as Rabbi Keller puts it I will breathe through tears, swallow my pride, bite my tongue, and offer love without testing for deservingness.***

As peacemakers, we can contain those negative inner forces and resist their power to the point of maximum tension.  In this instant a gap of consciousness may open, and the universal voice of Wisdom may be heard:

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23-24

Quote from Blog 78

*** "Today, I am taking sides. I am taking the side of Peace. Peace which I will not abandon even when its voice is drowned out by hurt and hatred, bitterness of loss, cries of right and wrong. I am taking the side of Peace, whose name has barely been spoken in this winnerless war...I will do what I must to save the life of Peace. I will breathe through tears, I will swallow pride, I will bite my tongue, I will offer love without testing for deservingness... Don't ask me to take sides unless it is the side of Peace."

Rabbi Irwin Keller, Oct.17, 2023.

THE LAW OF THREE (80) War in The Holy Land and The Reconciling Force

 

 

The Law of Three (80) War in The Holy Land and The Reconciling Force 

Today, I am taking sides. I am taking the side of Peace. Peace which I will not abandon even when its voice is drowned out by hurt and hatred, bitterness of loss, cries of right and wrong. I am taking the side of Peace, whose name has barely been spoken in this winnerless war...I will do what I must to save the life of Peace. I will breathe through tears, I will swallow pride, I will bite my tongue, I will offer love without testing for deservingness... Don't ask me to take sides unless it is the side of Peace. 

Rabbi Irwin Keller, Oct.17, 2023.

"Those committed to non-violence access to sources of strength and courage that they did not know they had. These forces finally reach the opponent and stir his consciousness so reconciliation becomes a reality." Martin Luther King, in "Finding Peace"

We must avoid two extremes: seeing all good on our side and all evil on their side, or, on the contrary, dismissing both sides as totally evil..."

Thomas Merton (1962), in "Christian Action in World Crisis." 

The Law of Three states we are carriers of the third or reconciling force. As carriers of the third force our personal responsibility is enormous in relation to the global conflicts that are taking place in the world today. We have the power to lend our individual Will to one of the two opposing and irreconcilable forces and, in this way, strengthen and prolong suffering of mankind or we .  may sacrifice our little selves or, as Rabbi Keller put it, struggle with our divided selves and, "to save the life of Peace" we will break through our tears, we will swallow our pride, we will bite our tongue, and we will offer love without testing for deservingness.

Love is the only alternative to waking up from the nightmare of seeing all good on our side and all evil on the other side.

THE LAW OF THREE (79) Russia, Ukraine and the Third Force

 "There is one winner, only one winner, in war. The winner is war itself. Not truth, not justice, nor liberty, nor morality. These are the vanquished.

Thomas Merton

War brings together two opposing forces determined to eliminate each other. The Law of Three shows us that the elimination of one force signifies the elimination of both. It also shows us that two contrary forces operate in the presence of a third force which regulates their actions. 

A war lasts until the energy one of the two contrary forces weakens, and natural Law acts to restore temporary their equilibrium (3rd force).  No force is ever destroyed.  The equilibrium will only bring respite to the conflicting forces.  Peace will not stay for long.  Love, the force that leads evolution, will not bring the conflict to a true end. The conflict will simply be carried forward to another day.

In its developing state mankind lends its will to the ego. The ego, in its dual mode of perception, lends its power to one or the other the two opposing sides (good-bad, etc) to ensure their persistence. Taking sides, the power of the ego is able to maintain the pendular movement right and wrong, good and evil, etc,  according to the needs of the moment. At times, one of the contrary sides seems to be able to overcome the other and the apparent imbalance may trigger the recurring phenomenon of war. War may manifest but its duration is governed by the laws of equilibrium.  Sooner or later each war come to a temporary end. At which point one of the conflicting sides will proclaim its side to be the winner, and that truth, justice, liberty, and morality have prevailed. The losing party will believe otherwise.

 "War is an attempt to tear God apart, it is the total rejection of life, and it is completely unjustifiable at the level of rational consciousness." Thomas Keating 

Law of Three /(78) Russia, Ukraine and the Third Force (1)

 

 

LAW OF THREE (78)

RUSSIA, UKRAINE, AND THE 3RD FORCE (1)

Two things are clear, first, the enemy is not one side or the other. The enemy is not Russia. or China, or Communism, or Castro, or Krushchev, or capitalism, or imperialism. The enemy is both sides. The enemy is in all of us. The enemy is war itself, and the root of war is hatred and fear, selfishness, lust... We must avoid two extremes: seeing all good on our side and all evil on their side, or, on the contrary, dismissing both sides as totally evil..."

Thomas Merton (1962) "Christian action in World Crisis."

The Law of Three states that every phenomenon or event in creation requires the presence and joint action of three independent forces. No event can take place with the presence of two active and opposing forces alone. Two opposing forces cancel each other: "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

(Newton's third law of motion.)

Life´s movements require the joint action of three absolute and equally active forces converging at each point in time.  In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine we can easily identify the presence and action of two irreconcilable forces. However,  no phenomenon can arise without the participation of a third, and equally active force, which brings the two "contraries" together    Thomas Merton states that what brings two irreconcilable forces together is hatred, fear, selfishness and lust.

Triadic configurations are neither good nor bad. They are maps that unable us to discern the three forces at play at any given moment. A triad configuration simply points at the direction toward which an action may lead us. The direction depends on the nature of the "reconciling or relating" third force. It is easy to see that a triad led by love will lead us in one direction and a triad led by hate or egoism into another.

Ordinary awareness is blind to the motivating force behind the curtains,  that governs the urge for power and control of both individuals and nations We often justify our actions by the moral need to take sides.  Paradoxically, a closer reflexion may show us that  both sides justify equally they actions claiming  to fight for the Good for Justice or for God.  This identical believers make wars inevitable.   

The only viable alternative to reactional behaviour - attraction and repulsion - is Love. A. Blake

LAW OF THREE (77) Instability. What causes Covid?

 LAW OF THREE (77)

INSTABILTY.   WHAT CAUSES COVID ?

No thing may be revealed to itself without contrariety. If it has no thing that resists it, it always goes out from itself and does not go into itself again. If it does not go into itself again, as into that out of which it originally came, it knows nothing of its cause. 

J. Boëhme 

What is the real cause of Covid?  Our ordinary thinking is lineal, it links causes and effects. We quite naturally attempt to eliminate the causes of all undesirable effects. In the two years of living with the pandemic, science has been tying to eliminate or neutralise the undesirable effects the mysterious virus. 

I often ask myself questions about the pandemic: is there a point to the arising of the virus? Could there be a subtle intelligence with a purpose behind the virus?  

I keep in mind that The Law of Three emphasises the importance of resisting force in our lives (nothing can be revealed without its contrary being present).  

Coronavirus is contrary to human purposes.  Contrary forces precede revelations.  A huge technological advance takes place after a war.    In the previous blogs on Coronavirus I have tried to trace the possible steps arising from the initiated resistant force (contrary) force posed by the virus.  I even dared to reflect on the possible link to the contemplative monastic ways to self-realisation.  So I will ask another question.  Has the resisting force of the Covid had an impact to the human development or in the understanding of ourselves?  I have heard moving examples of friends at breaking point surrendering to the power of hope. 

The possibility of loving or even welcoming the negative is a major jump in the evolutionary process.

LAW OF THREE (76) The Point at the Centre of our Being

LAW OF THREE (76)

THE POINT AT THE CENTRE OF OUR BEING.

“At the centre of our being there is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth... it is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely ... ” Thomas Merton

A point has no dimensions; it contains all dimensions. Between heaven and earth there is the point that interferes neither with heaven nor with earth, but relates and reconciles them both.

The point is the place where all the forces of creation centre; it is the place where the creative power of the Word resides; vibrating, expanding, generating in all directions, yet remaining still.  It is "... the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless. Neither from nor towards, at the still point there the dance is" T.S. Elliot

The Centre is not a fixed place: the centre is everywhere. It is the present moment, the point where our being eternally resides. We are structured to live in the present moment; if we cannot live in the present moment we cannot live anywhere.