THE LAW OF THREE (85) THE THIRD FORCE

The Law of Three states that everything in the world, all manifestations of energy, all kinds of action, whether in the world or in human activity, whether internal or external. are always manifestations of three forces which exist in nature. The three forces are called active, passive and neutralising. Active and passive forces are both active, for a force cannot be passive. At the same time, every force which is now active can become passive or neutralising the next moment, in another triad. When three forces meet together, things happen. If they do not come together, nothing happens.  The Fourth Way P.D. Ouspensky

The grand illusion concealing reality is the belief that we are separate entities. From this belief arises the thought that everything can and must be understood through the duality of good and evil, right and wrong, existence and nonexistence. The conviction that everything must fall into pairs of opposites rules a human life in its determination to square all circles.

The action of the primary two opposing forces was discovered by modern science: "In every action there is an equal and opposing reaction." The problem is that if only the first and second forces come together, nothing would happen. Without the unblocking action of a third force, there would be no movement. The world would be in a state of deadlock. The firmament would stand still.

The third force enables two opposing forces to move in any direction. Each of the three forces is essential in the play of creation. The resisting force of the ground and, in opposition, the weight of the body are two necessary forces on which the third force depends to be able to move the body. To avoid dual stagnation, Modern democracies maintain continuity in government by repeatedly changing political sides. The question is, in which direction is a triad leading us? Are we evolving or un-evolving? There is a world of difference if the operating third force is the ego-self (automatic self) or the real-self (creative self).

 

The law of three is a tool that does not take sides. It simply points at how all phenomena manifest in creation. It signals how all triads connect and interact with other triads throughout creation. Nothing is free from the Law of Three. Nothing exists in separation. It is said that it is possible to plot the connection between any two phenomena in the Universe, from a doorknob to a galaxy, from a fish to a table, from a chimney-pot to the moons of Saturn; taken that we have sufficient knowledge to do so.

 

The Law of Three (84) Love your Enemies

 

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"   

 Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5.44)

 

Love your enemies is a challenging statement that puzzles human reason.  Are humans capable of unconditional love?

The Law of Three teaches that enemies are an essential force in the three-fold play of human development. Our attitude or feelings toward our "enemies" indicate our level of being.  " Love your enemies" does not mean eliminating your enemies or converting them into saints. What would become of Shakespearean tragedies without friends and foes?

In the course of life, all of us play the roles of friends and enemies equally, depending on which side of the conflict we find ourselves on at a given time. However, whatever role is given to us to play by the rulers of the day, the non-dual presence of the real I that abides within ourselves remains untouched.

In the present, ever-repeating global turmoil, we hear the familiar tune of experts prophesying the end of the world, a change in the cosmic cycle, evolutionary movement, levels of consciousness, etc.  How do each of us fit into all these pronouncements?  Do they mean that you or I are evolving? Could there be a simpler, more direct way to test whether, at either the individual or global level, we are moving uphill or downhill?

Maybe there is. Could love be the measure of both individual and collective human growth and development, and fear be the measure of our involution?  Put simply, do the present stocks of love make irrelevant the current stocks of missiles,  or, on the contrary, do we still desperately need to increase the production of the latter?  

Love:

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."  1 Corinthians 13  

  

 

 

  

The Law of Three (83) and The Force of Evil (2)

 LAW OF THREE (83) THE FORCE OF EVIL (2)

"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying. Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; (Genesis2:16) But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shall surely die. (Genesis 2:17)

After the fall, God put Adam and Eve out of the garden lest they would eat from the tree of life (Genesis 3:24);

Death entered human awareness.

Genesis 4, describes the first murder in human history. Cain the first born son of Adam and Eve killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. God had accepted Abel's offer while rejecting Cain's.

War became a permanent feature in human history. There is a sense of helplessness in war where two unknown sides blindly massacre each other.  Nations and groups of people feel drawn to mutual butchery moved by fear of the other.

Does war serve a purpose? War sustains the illusory world of duality, the world of divisions and repetition. The justification for war is simple. Leading politicians proclaim that war's purpose is to eliminate bad people. Others declare war on Terror. Laura Freixas titled a recent article: I hate therefore I am" and described leaders' easy solutions to complex problems: if there is a problem, it must be caused by somebody else (eg..immigrants) and can only be resolved by eliminating them.

One idea is clear, war does not resolve conflicts. It keeps conflicts going on until they reach a point of equilibrium, or when the warring forces exhaust themselves and run out of soldiers or weapons. At which point a temporary truce ensues to regain new forces in preparation for the next round of barbarity.

During a state of equilibrium it is possible to notice a shift in the behaviour of the players: the aggressors and the victims of aggression change roles. People that once were unjust victims of genocide may later in time become active perpetrators of the similar atrocities. A curious feature of duality

Recognising our capacity for evil is a major step in human evolution.  T. Keating speaks of a point in the spiritual journey when we are able to recognise that we are capable of all evil.  Desmond Tutu certainly reached such point when he wrote: As human beings we have the most extraordinary capacity for evil.  We can perpetrate some of the most horrendous atrocities.

A humbling awakening and a deeper realisation of the hopelessness of the human condition, and the overwhelming need of the healing power of Love.

The Law of Three(82) and The Force of Evil

THE LAW OF THREE (82) AND THE FORCE OF EVIL

"I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all this things." Isaiah 45:7

"Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? Job 2:10

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For how long has humanity been trying "unsuccessfully" to destroy evil?

"War is an attempt to tear God apart" T, Keating.

Blaming an "omnipotent"God for not creating a universe without faults:

"We often represent God to ourselves as being able to draw from non-being a world without sorrows, faults, dangers - a world in which there is no damage, no breakage.

This is a conceptual fantasy and it makes it impossible to solve the problem of evil"

Teilhard de Chardin

 T. Keating in his talk: "A life surrendered to Love" refers to evil (negative force in the Law of Three) in an unusual way:

"This is an extraordinary life, a marvellous universe and the fact that it is plagued with evil manifests how humble God is that He lets his creation to get in such mess from time to time to evolve; anything can happen but with always the same purpose of finally getting us to allow Him to love us.

 

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,  alternatively, as Rabbi Keller says, struggle with our divided selves:  

"To save the life of Peace" I will breath through my tears, I will swallow my pride, I will bite my tongue, and i 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. The power of the ego by taking sides maintains the dual pendular movement right-wrong, good-evil, etc,  according to the natural needs of the moment. At times, one of the contrary sides seems to temporarily 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