LAW OF THREE (69) Eternity

LAW OF THREE (69)

ETERNITY

"Eternity is not the feeling of existence; it is not the feeling of being permanently living in the present; it is not undivided consciousness: it is becoming sensitive to influences coming from beyond existence; from the world of will. Eternity is becoming receptive to intuition, to timeless intelligence, and to the universal source of love."    From my notebooks, unknown author.

Eternity it is the dimension that enables us to be touched by Intuition, Intelligence and Love.  Eternity reconciles time and space and enables us to become sensitive to influences from beyond existence. 

Higher influences bring discernment and direction to our actions.  We  become sensitive to the demands of Love.

"Be ready in all things to sacrifice the less for the greater and to with hold nothing from the demands of Love"*   

* Oh Eternal Essence, O Holy Jesus, o Transcendent Godhead,

grant me the keys of salvation,

to fulfil the destiny for which I was created,

to be ready in all things to sacrifice the less for the greater

and to with hold nothing from the demands of Love.

J.G.Bennett

THE LAW OF THREE (68) Depth or The Third Dimension of Wholeness

LAW OF THREE (68)

DEPTH OR THE THIRD DIMENSION OF WHOLENESS

"Our ordinary looking is almost two dimensional; in it there is very little sense of depth. We talk of the ordinary "personality" world where we are occupied with thoughts and reactions as flat - with

good reason. But when the transition comes and there is depth, we find ourselves in a different state. We feel different. Indeed, the feelings become awakened, and a freshness comes."

Anthony Blake A Seminar On Time

Most of our life seems to take place in the confines in a world with very little sense of the spatial reality or depth, where we miss the sense of wholeness 

With the sudden awareness of the dimension of depth* our experience is comparable to waking into a new dimension of ourselves.  From which perspective the two dimensional world of thoughts seem like a dream.

With this experience of depth our perception changes. A third dimension has been added to our body experience and our field of our awareness is expanded. In this new configuration our body seems much less solid than before, and its borders less defined.

Perhaps Raimon Panikkar referred to this experience when he wrote "The spiritual experience that we may call "mystical" does not put us in touch with a third world, but let us experience the third dimension of the one and the same world, opening us up to a more real union with reality."

The experience of the third dimension of the one and the same world referred by Panikkar is depth.     It is the experience of depth that makes us aware of what it really means to be in a body.

"There is a factual change which comes into the transition to an awareness of depth, as well as in the quality of feeling" Anthony Blake

*Third dimension of space.

LAW OF THREE (67) Dying and Rebirth

LAW OF THREE (67)

DYING AND REBIRTH

"We do not have within us a principle of stable existence. What we find in ourselves, on the contrary, is a principle of renewal, of return, of being lost and found again. This principle we can really only understand if we experience it in ourselves; and we know its taste as the taste of rebirth: whenever we come back from a state of oblivion, or forgetfulness. This happens again and again, to such an extent that we become accustomed to it and cease to see how important it is - and how really wonderful it is - that we should be able to come back again after having been lost."

J.G. Bennett

We cannot be aware of the instant of falling asleep or the instant of waking up.  All we can say on returning to our own awareness is  'I am here, now! '  .

We are unaware that our life does not run in a continuous line, but that it is constantly interrupted, renewed or given back.

Dying and rebirth is a constant in our lives without our being aware of the extraordinary miracle that it represents.   It is  'the action' of an independent creative force which does not come from ourselves.* and that constantly brings us back to life.

The continuous interplay of the three independent cosmic forces (life-birth-death), that makes possible the experience of being here now:

'I am here now in this immediate space in contact with a life force which supports, enlightens and unifies my presence' John Pentland

*Everyone who begins to study and know their own states is well aware that our experience is a constant dying and rebirth. We must not be frightened as we come to see this, although it is really a terrifying thing that we have no power to keep hold of our life: that it has to be renewed or given back to us by something that does not come from ourselves.

But even when we see the helplessness with which we fall into oblivion, at that moment when we are most trying to hold on to ourselves, we must learn to trust that there is something that calls us back. And if it calls us back from sleep at night, it will call us back from that other sleep into which we shall enter,

J.G.Bennett

THE LAW OF THREE (66) Who Is The Third One?

THE LAW OF THREE (66)

WHO IS THE THIRD ONE?

WHO IS THE THIRD who walks always beside you?

When I count, there are only you and I together

But when I look ahead up the white road

There is always another one walking beside you

Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded

I do not know whether a man or a woman

-But who is that on the other side of you?

"The Waste Land" T.S. Eliot

According to the law of three, every phenomenon and event in creation is the work of three independent forces: active, passive, reconciling. A dual perception is only aware of one or two forces: the initiating force and the resisting force. Awareness of the presence and action of a third force requires developing a non dual perception. It is from a dual perspective when Sta. Teresa of Avila says: "We pray to God as if He was absent."

Duality is the world of thinking governed by the the illusion that 'I can do'.  St. Paul said : " I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." 

The eye of duality is unaware of  presence and action of a third or independent force,  The Upanishades speaks of an underlying

presence which makes the action possible: "That which makes the eye see, but needs no I to see, that alone is Spirit" 

The seer that sees though all eyes cannot be seen*, but it can be revealed in the suddenly insight that we are neither the seer nor the seen, but the seeing which enables the seer and seen to unite in an indivisible seeing.  The experience detaches from our identification with the"doing of the action" to the "contemplation of the action."

* "The observer that can be observed in not the observer." Dvid Finkelstain.

THE LAW OF THREE (65) Manifesting God

LAW OF THRE (65)

THE CENTER IS EVERYWHERE

"Except for the point, the still point, there would be no dance and there is only the dance."

T.S. Elliot

What is a point? A point has no dimension. It is the source of all shapes and the beginning of all dimensions. The point is not an object.  The subject is not an object.  The subject experiences itself in relation to the manifest creation.

The point is our centre.  It is the eternal now. "If we cannot live in the present now we cannot live anywhere,"  Huang Po

Where is the point?  In a conversation with Raimon Panikkar,  I referred to  Centering Prayer.  "Ah,"  he exclaimed,   Centering Prayer,  and added,  "the Center is everywhere!"

The center being everywhere conveys the idea of eternity.  Eternity brings into relationship time and space.  Eternity awareness is the gate that offers relief  from the limitations of time-space which is the place the ego resides.

Find the center or "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all things shall be added unto you" (He will give you everything you need) Matt 6 (33)

LAW OF THREE (64) Making One Out of Two

LAW OF THREE (64)

MAKING ONE OUT OF TWO

"When you are able to make two become one, the inside like

the outside, and the outside like the inside, the higher like

the lower, so that man is no longer male, and a woman,

female, but male and female a single whole. When

you are able to fashion an eye to replace an eye, and form

a hand in place of a hand, or a foot for a foot, making one

image supersede another -then you will enter in."

The Gospel of Thomas (22)

The task of the Triad is to make one:

"When you are able to make two become one...then you will enter in."    Making one out of two is not a question of eliminating one of the two opposing forces (as in war) but by bringing them together into a relationship by the power of a reconciling force to bring opposing forces into a relationship.

The well known pronouncement: "love your enemies..." describes the nature of the reconciling force of Love.  Love is indivisible.. If we only 'love' our friends we fracture love.  We find no use for our enemies.   We cannot evolve.  We cannot make one out of two.

The task of the Triad is to make meaning:

In the statement "I and my father are one", the third force is the power of meaning of the word father. Father brings into a relationship God and (I), giving rise to the form of One. Three distinct and mutually 'related' terms giving rise to a unit of meaning.

Raimon Panikkar's reflection:

The relation between God and man, therefore, instead of being one of pure transcendence (which does not admit any relation) is one of immanence. God is the transcendent mystery immanent in us. Hence there is a conviction common to different religions that someone that claims to have seen the transcendent God is not telling the truth...

It is in immanence that transcendence is discovered. We realise that we 'remain' in something that, being within us, is greater than we are, transcends us.

Immanence is the link which transcends the duality of God and Me and brings the unitive (triadic) experience of God in Me and I in God.

THE LAW OF THREE (63) Transforming Suffering

LAW OF THREE (63)

TRANSFORMING SUFFERING

"If thou hadst known how to suffer thou wouldst have been able not to suffer. Learn thou to suffer and thou shall be able not to suffer." Apocryphal Gospel of St. John.

"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you and that persecute you." Sermon of the Mount. Matthew 5:44

The above quotations challenge our attitude to the obstacles we encounter in life. They suggest we need to welcome them. Without enemies we cannot grow.

"We are always fighting the negative part of us, and therefore we cannot grow. The one who rejects is the ego who feeds on rejection" J.G. Bennett

"In no way can we eliminate the second or negative force: life would loose interest if anything we wanted were instantaneously produced without any effort from our part to overcome resistance.

P.D. Ouspensky

"Suffering is never an end in itself, but a stepping stone to transformation. In this view it may be the necessary step to force us to let go of what we overtly depend on (ego) for the fulfilment of our idea of happiness." Thomas Keating

LAW OF THREE (62) The Still Point

LAW OF THREE (62)

THE STILL POINT (1)

"One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction, is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities." Bhagavad Gita (400 bc9

 

"At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;

Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,

But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,

Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,

Neither ascend nor decline. Except for the point, the sill point,

There would be no dance, and there is only the dance." T.S. Elliot

The still point brings time and space in a relationship with eternity, the third dimension of our experience.  In the Gita "the transcendental position'' is free from tensions between absolutes. Neither action nor inaction, at the point where the dance flows.

The still point is where all working surfaces meet (active-passive-neutral). It is where we reside. It is our home. When T. Keating later in life was asked if he was longing for home he answered: 'I wold like to think that I am already at home.'

The Centering Prayer method taught by T. Keating aids the practitioner to return to the absolute centre from which we have never departed, by letting go to all attachments to the transient and repetitive thoughts. 

LAW OF THREE (61) The Purpose of Thinking (2)

LAW OF THREE (61)

THE PURPOSE OF THINKING (2)

"If you are going to think, at least THINK. Use your own mind, heart, and grounded presence to see what is actually going on and try to understand with what is the most awake in you, not the most asleep" Cynthia Bourgeault

The question is: can we think?

"The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking"

Martin Heidegger, What is called thinking.

Implicit in the above quotations is that the power to THINK for ourselves needs to be developed. In blog 59, I wrote: "From an intellectual perspective, thinking needs to evolve into understanding in order to become an instrument of the will." In its undeveloped state, thinking is the mechanism that maintains the dream of a separate existence

When the attention is free from its attachment to thought we are able to observe objectively the stream of thought.  In detached observing spontaneous understanding may arise. This arising of understanding requires our conscious presence (reconciling force).  'It requires the presence of what is most awake in us'.

In true thinking our attention needs to play a discerning role in the articulation of thought. We need to actively be able to think our thoughts, instead of our thoughts thinking us. We need to ask ourselves: Am I in control of my thinking?

Perhaps Rene Descartes was right after all in his famous 'cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) if he meant: 'I can think, only when I am'.

LAW IF THREE( 60) Conscious Influences

LAW OF THREE (60)

CONSCIOUS INFLUENCES

"When the attention is not free and independent it is trapped in the world of duality lending its power to like and dislike, belief or not belief, and so on,   It feeds duality and cannot choose independently. When directed consciously it can become the gate through which conscious influences can enter creation."

J,G. Bennett

Freedom depends on our power of choice. Choice depends on our attention not being caught in the limitations of like-dislike, belief-non-belief, right-wrong, pleasure-pain, good-bad.

When the attention is not subject to the pairs of opposites it can become a bridge through which conscious influences can enter creation .

When we  give full attention to a person in need, we become a gateway through which the afflicted person can connect to the inner listener; we unable the speaker to become receptive to the healing power of his 'deeper self''.

In the ordinary state of our attention is lost or undirected.  St. Mark says: "Having ears do you not hear?" People may be speaking to us and although we are aware of their words, we may not aware of their meaning.   Suddenly a sentence may catch our attention, consciousness has entered, and both the speaker and the listener can hear. A new dimension has entered our awareness.

When our attention is free and independent we can direct consciousness to an issue, and in this voluntary act we become carriers of the neutral or reconciling force (3rd, force) aligning ourselves with the intelligence that transmits meaning (4th force). In this configuration what may arise is the solution to a deadlock, and lead us forward into a new direction.

LAW OF THREE (59) The Purpose of Thinking

LAW OF THREE (59)

THE PURPOSE OF THINKING

"...thinking must never be regarded as merely a subjective activity. Thinking lies beyond subject and object. It produces these two concepts just as it produces all others. When, therefore, I, as thinking subject, refer a concept to an object, we must not regard this reference as something purely subjective. It is not the subject that makes the reference, but the thinking. The subject does not think because it is a subject; rather it appears to itself as a subject because it can think.

Rudolf Steiner. Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path.

Thinking is a human experience. Its usefulness depend on how conscious we are of the thinking process and to what use we put it. The clarity of our awareness determines whether we think our thoughts or our thoughts think us. The first is real thinking and the second fictitious thinking.

'That we are thinking is real, while what we are thinking may be a fantasy' A. Blake

Thinking can be seen as a dialogue between thoughts, feelings, and sensations. It may consist of what I am, what I wish, and what I do, each voice claiming an independent I and an independent will.

Thinking arises out of conflicting inner aims and desires. The need for discernment and reconciliation between conflicting aims and desires has given rise to the development of different psychological and spiritual methods and techniques.

From an intellectual view, thinking needs to evolve into understanding by the practice of conscious dialogue or formulation.   

LAW OF THREE (58) Sin and The Law of Three

LAW OF THREE (58)

SIN AND THE LAW OF THREE

"Sin comes from a Greek word meaning to miss the mark, 'a term from the art of archery' What does missing the mark actually involve? It presupposes a target, which is called the bull's eye. A bow is the means by which the archer tries to launch the arrow into the centre of the target. The purpose of the art of archery is to hit the target every time or to get as closed to doing so as possible." Thomas Keating. Heartfullness.

In the same context Thomas Keating says: 'The psychological experience of a separate self sense is the root of all sin; get rid of that and there won't be any more sin."

From the perspective of the Law of Three, sin is a dual experience in which the presence of the 3rd or reconciling force within is not felt. 

In Archery, when the archer, the arrow, and the target are in perfect alignement they become a unity. In this configuration the target does not exist as a separate entity: the target , as it were, enters creation when the archer is united with the target and the felt sense of separation no longer exists.**

Nearly three thousand years ago the 'omnipresence' of the bull's eye is explained in the Mahabharata (the sanskrit epic of ancient India)

"Dronacharya organised an archery competition to test the skills of his pupils. He kept a small wooden bird on a tree at a distance. He asked all the pupils to take aim at the wooden bird's eye. To every pupil he asked the question:'What do you see?

Each disciple replied the same: I can see the bird, leaves, fruits, sky, etc. Dronacharya's anwer was: 'put down the bow and leave.' 

The last one to be asked was Arjuna. Dronacharya asked him: 'what do you see?' He answered 'I can only see the eye of the bird', Dronacharya kept asking him if he could see other things but Arjuna replied,  'No teacher,  I can see nothing other than the eye of the bird.'  Dronacharya, happy with Arjuna's  response told him to shoot. The arrow sprang from the bow and went straight into the bird's eye."

**I am in God and God is in Me.

/benetblogsuk.blogspot.com

LAW OF THREE (57) Attention, Carrier of the Third Force

LAW OF THREE (57)

ATTENTION, CARRIER OF THE THIRD FORCE

"We are carriers of the Third Force which we can bring into a situation through the power of Attention."      J.G. Bennett

Attention is not force in a triad, but the carrier of the 3rd force.  Attention directed to a point releases information.  If we put our attention to our left foot, information from our left foot will arise.  The information arising from the left foot will be the reconciling force of a triad. 

One triad leads to another.  If the information received about our left foot is cause for concern we may feel the the need to visit the doctor.  Need will become the active force in a succeeding triad where the resisting force will be the reluctance see a doctor.  Contradictory circling thoughts may prevent the entry of a new reconciling third force in the form of decision. However the circling thoughts may be brought to an end by alarming new information entering in the form of an enormous swollen foot and the decision to visit the doctor is taken.  

Information may come from different sources.   It may come from the present or from the past.   It may come from memory or it may come from intuition.  It may come from the present or mat come from the past.

If we direct our attention to our hand for a couple of minutes, we notice all kinds of information and commentaries entering our awareness about the hand.  Information from the past may come in the form of thoughts like: 'what a worn out hand this is', etc.  However if we allow all the recorded past memories about the hand to pass by,  a new vision from a deeper source may arise like: the extraordinary miracle of the sudden apparition of 'this hand'.

LAW OF THREE (56) The Third Force

LAW OF THREE (56)

THE THIRD FORCE

"Imagine how the energies of our planet would shift if we as Christians took seriously our obligation to work with the Law of Three as our fundamental spiritual praxis. Face to face with the vast challenges of our times -environmental, economic, political - we would avoid making judgments (because according to the Law of Three, the denying force is a legitimate player in every equation), set our sights higher than "winers and losers" (or even negotiated compromise), and instead strive in all situations to align our minds and hearts with the Third Force."

Cynthia Bourgeault

What is the significance of the Third Force?

The Third Force 'allows' the power of 'direction' to enter all spheres of creation.

In a car the accelerator (active) and the brakes (passive) are forces that go against each other. Only the presence of the steering wheel (reconciling force), can reconcile the accelerator and the brakes and direct the car in the deciding 'direction' *

* Accelerator, brakes, steering wheel represent three distinct and independent movements in a triad working as a unit. At the centre, the driver (the will) decides in every moment which of the three forces will be active,

LAW OF THREE (55) The Observer

LAW OF THREE (55)

THE OBSERVER

"In non-duality the separate self sense is greatly reduced and even disappears. Everything that happens is the direct experience of reality. It is being able to lead ordinary life without thinking of oneself. When you look at a tree, it is a tree, and not you looking at a tree. The latter is the response of our rational intellect.  "Thomas Keating 

Who is observing a tree?

"That which makes the eye see, but needs no eye to see, that alone is Spirit."  

The Kena Upanishad:

The observer that can be observed is not the observer.

David Finkelstein

In observation' we can discern three independent forces: the seer, the seeing, and the seen.  Our individual power of attention enables us to exert the power of seeing just by focusing the attention to an object  However the source of sight does not come from ourselves. The power of 'seeing' is given. 

Full attention without reference to the ego (felt-self-sense) gives rise to the rare experience of seeing without thought. In the absence of thinking you are simply seeing.You see the tree and not you looking at a tree.  You experience of the unity of seer-seeing-seen (without being identified with the seer).

LAW OF THREE (54) The I and the Will

LAW OF THREE (54)

THE I OR THE WILL

"We have various, of what Gurdjieff called, 'centres' or 'intelligences'; but, ordinarily, these are in 'discord' They do not agree with each other in what they see or want. They are at cross purposes. The aim of 'work on oneself' was to clean up the centres and bring them into a co-operative state. It is so that they then coalesce and create something new, this is to create or realise one's true 'I'."

Gurdjieff's psychology

From the perspective of the Law of Three we may consider a car to be a three-fold unit in which three independent and mutually necessary forces give rise to an instrument capable of operating in the world of time and space. In this example the accelerator is the active force, the brakes the resisting force and the steering wheel the neutralising force. When these three powers are in tune, the driver, that is, the true I or the will, can direct the car in the direction he choses. We may consider the driver to be a 5th force which can only operate when the three sides of the triad are brought into a co-operative state (a triadic unit or No.4)

Why the 5th force?

Gurdjieff's example of Man, ( numbers 1,2,3,4,5 etc in blog 47) may help to answer this question. According to his scheme man number 5 can only manifest when Man, nos. l,2,3 are in balance giving rise to Man No.4. When the three have become one, at Man no 4, Man no. 5, a true "individual" or 'will' can operate.

Another useful example of three forces giving rise to one unit or 'articulation' can be found in the arising of understanding. In the arising of understanding, when sensations (no.l) feelings (no2) and thoughts (no.3) have become one, 'understanding' (no.4) , then the I or the will (no.5) can enter and act.

Metaphorically speaking...

If I can manage my three energy centres I can manage everything else. If I cannot, then everything is hard and has to be forced. If I do not know that the engine can take a car from one place to another, I have to push it, and this is how most of us do things: we push our body machine about,  like a person pushing a motorcar, and then it can easily happen that the steering wheel is out of reach.

LAW OF THREE (53) Decision

LAW OF THREE (53)

DECISION

"God made man so that He could know Himself." G.I. Gurdjieff

WHO OR WHAT DECIDES?

The nature of decisions beyond ordinary day to day choices has occupied my mind for a long time.  For example:  Did I decide to be born?   A question that obviously cannot be resolved with my ordinary level of consciousness (or by the ego)

 I can differentiate two kinds of decisions: 1. Decisions that come from the Ego, the Me, or the False self and relate to the issues encountered in the ordinary world of duality. 2. the decisions that come from an I, or Self, which is (or resides) beyond the sphere or the limitations of the ordinary self-conscious ego. The question of: did I decide to be born?, is meaningless to the ego,

Another decision coming from a differente plane could be this:

As a young man at the age of 26, I was walking down a local street, when a decision struck my being. I was to leave my comfortable life in Spain and move to England! The decision came out of infinity. And even though such possibility had been playing in my mind for years the enabling power and force of the decision had not entered my awareness until that precise instant. From then on the pattern of my life was to be completely restructured

Strictly speaking, I did not take the decision... and yet.... something beyond myself... which is at the very core and centre of myself ... took the decision... which I was bound to obey!  "To hear is to obey" says the Rule of St Benedict.

 

Law of Three (52) Centering Prayer and The Law of Three

THE LAW OF THREE (52)

CENTERING PRAYER AND THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

"Just by the very nature of our birth, we are on the spiritual journey" 

Thomas Keating.

 Thomas Keating says:

"Our basic core of goodness is our True Self."

"The acceptance of our basic goodness is a quantum leap on the Spiritual Journey."

"This basic core of goodness is capable of unlimited development, indeed of becoming transformed into Christ and deified."

Centering Prayer and the Law of Three forces

The Law of Three stipulates that nothing is brought about, changed or accomplished unless three independent forces are involved.  In Centering Prayer the intention is to consent to God's presence and action within ourselves.  The three forces are:  i. intention (the active or initiating force); ii. thoughts (the passive or resisting force); and iii. consent (the reconciling force). When these three independent forces act in harmony, a "gate of consciousness" opens to permit Gods action  

It is essential to distinguish the two different forces which intervene in C.P :  intention and consent. Intention comes from the Ego and Consent from the True Self *)

True consent may give rise to unsuspected events:

"God will bring people and events into our lives, and whatever we may think about them, they are designed for the evolution of his life in us." Thomas Keating.

LAW OF THREE (51) Power in Weakness

LAW OF THREE (50)

POWER IN WEAKNESS

"The only self we know is the false self that developed in infancy under the influence of the three emotional programs for happiness and especially under the influence of a separate-self sense. The infant after six or eight months of depending on its mother, begins to realise that she is not going to do everything for ever, so it begins to take care of itself. It then needs to feel secure, loved, and free to experience power and control in some degree." Thomas Keating

In the first months of life we are unaware of ourselves, our needs, or our existence. The needs and weakness of the infant is a force that commands the attention and assistance of those around him.

As memory grows the child learns to speak, with speech comes self-awareness and the need for some degree power or control. Gradually we identify with the thoughts, feelings an sensations until we claim ownership of "my thoughts. my feelings, my sensations ."  With the inevitable arising of the ego our essence is forgotten.

In our essence is our strength.   The recognition of the commanding power of essence is evidenced at birth.  The needs of the child command immediate response.   In T.K's words with every birth enters a: core of goodness is capable of unlimited development, indeed of becoming transformed into Christ and deified." 

Does St. Paul have in mind the the power in the helplessness of the new born child? "For my strength is made perfect in my weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather glory in my infirmities, so that the power of Christ may rest on me" Cor. 12:9

LAW OF THREE (48) Background to the Law of Three

THE LAW OF THREE (48)

BACKGROUND TO THE LAW OF THREE

The law of three states that very phenomenon and every event in creation is the work of three independent forces.

When we see the action of three independent forces in every event and phenomenon, then we see the world as it really is.

In order to produce any phenomenon or event the three independent forces meet in a relationship of positive, negative and neutralising

Considered by itself, every force in the universe is positive or active.

Only at the point of meeting do the three forces become structured in this relationship.

We can see very easily the positive or active force in any event or phenomenon.

Sometimes we are aware of the negative or resisting force as well.

But very rarely are we aware of the presence and action of the third neutralising  or reconciling force. 

Background to the concept of the Triad

The Law of Three was introduced by Gurdjieff about 100 years ago during his teaching period in Russia just before the Bolshevik revolution. These ideas were taken up by groups run by Gurdjieff's one time pupil Ouspensky. Other teachers operating within the same circle, like J.G. Bennett, developed the study of the Triad in their own ways.

Gurdjief idea of the triad was very simple and direct. It was about how things change, and how change was at all possible. His originality was to insist that: nothing is brought about, or nothing is really changed unless there are three independent forces involved.

Ouspensky said: There are ideas that could all stop al quarrels, such idea is the Law of Three

He also said that: In order to penetrate in the experience of the Law of Three we must be present fist (the three forces operate in the present, now)

LAW OF THREE (50) The Universal Dance

LAW OF THREE (50)

THE UNIVERSAL DANCE

"Triads are connected with further triads. These connecting triads go on and on: nothing is free from this Law and nothing exists in isolation. It is no exaggeration to say that by tracing from triad to triad 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" George Jeffery

"Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid..." Luke 12.7

We are counted and we count. The Universe is a vast entity of interconnected triads. We participate in the universal dance as a force in a triad

A triad consists of the active interaction of  three forces. Science recognises two forces, but it is unaware of a third one. Yet a third force is implicit in scientific formulation. To avoid stalemate there must be a third element which weakens the automatic 'action reaction' and enables further progression.

Man can act either as a necessary false third force or as a conscious true third force. Acting as a false third force we lend our powers to one of the conflicting sides ensuring automatic repetition (like-dislike, right-wrong, good-bad, etc.) When we act as a true reconciling third force we hold in ourselves the tension between two poles, and become the gate through which creative powers may enter and change for example the stalemate of war.

The action of a true reconciling third requires the sacrifice of the ego.* 

 

*The ego is not an independent force, but it is a force, except that it can only operate through the active or resisting forces. It cannot be an independent or true reconciling force because its view is dual. The ego cannot love both friends and enemies and become a neutralising force at the same time. Love your enemies is beyond its comprehension.

LAW OF THREE (49) The Gap

THE LAW OF THREE (49)

THE GAP

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy..."

Hamlet 1.5.167-8

What am I ? A conscious exploration into depths of our being can reveal that I am nothing tangible. 

What can I do?  Wisdom teacher stated that we spend our lives trying to do what we cannot do, and avoid doing the only thing that we can do..

Which is? To give conscious attention.

Conscious attention separates subject from object by becoming aware of the space between the two.  The space between the Observer and the Observed reveals that we are neither the Observer nor the Observed but the 'observing presence' which brings the Observer and the Observed into a relationship.

In the Upanishads the Observer is Spirit.  Spirit is described as the Seer that sees though all eyes but needs no eyes to see. Spirit experiences itself through seeing.

The Christian tradition speaks of God experiencing himself in the human form. Man becomes the point of encounter of God with Himself.

Reflecting on the Rule of St. Benedict, an old Abbot pondered: Where is man in the activities performed by the monks in this monastery?  Only Christ is involved in all activities; Christ prays in the monk; Christ is the stranger that comes through the door, Christ is all in all.  But of course, he added, 'it takes Christ to recognise Christ'.

 'God in us is serving God in others.' Sta. Teresa of Avila

LAW OF THREE (47) A Three Fold Operating System

LAW OF THREE (47)

A THREE FOLD OPERATING SYSTEM.

In the Gurdjieff tradition, we speak of Man number 1,2,3,4,5, etc. up to number 7. Man no.1.  is dominated by the moving centre; Man no.2, by the feeling centre;  and Man no. 3,  by the thinking centre; Man no.4,  has all three centres in balance. According to the Gurdjieff scheme, it is possible for the 'real I' to enter such a balanced man, when he becomes Man no.5, a true 'individual' .

From the Gurdjieff tradition.

Gurdjieff uses numbers to differentiate the stages of self-development leading to the entering of the true 'I' at Man num.5.  The entering of our true 'I' or "individuality" is only possible when Man nos. 1, 2, 3 are in balance (Man no 4)

Nos 1,2,3 represent three sides of a triad. A triad is a dynamic unit showing the cooperation between three independent forces. The triad only manifests when the three forces are integrated in a dynamic whole. In the Gurdjieff scheme a balanced man, man no. 4, arises out of the balanced triadic articulation of thought, feeling, and sensation.

Man nos. 1,2,3 could be referred to as the three powers which when they come together articulate the evolving mind.

St. John of the Cross with the voice of Man. no 5:  speaks of rest and freedom.

In a dark night,

inflamed with love,

o delightful wonder!

I left and non saw me,

my house being now at rest..."

St. John of the Cross

* "En una noche oscura, con ansias en amores inflamada, ¡oh dichosa ventura! salí sin ser notada, estando ya mi casa sosegada."

THE LAW OF THREE (46) The Arising of Meaning

THE LAW OF THREE (46)

THE ARISING OF MEANING

"The task of the triad is to make a unity, though every action produces a reaction. In the mechanical world, Newton's laws apply, particularly that 'action and reaction are equal and opposite' and their sum is zero. In real life we have to do something more than what we are expected to do. The 'something more' is the third force. It is the secret of 'doing'. It may not actually have to be done by us. We can 'wait' until it arises of itself -when we speak of the 'propitious time' or the 'cubic centimetre of chance', etc.- before we act." Anthony Blake

The third force brings two opposing forces into a relationship and gives movement to the triad. The movement may be conscious or automatic.  When we, as carriers of the third force, take sides and lend our power (automatically) to only one of the opposing forces we act as a false reconciling force and the triad unfolds in an automatic and repetitive pattern,

We need to understand the difference between reacting and relating.  If someone insults us or attacks us we get upset. We react or criticise and then we learn nothing from the situation. Action and reaction are equal and opposite. To learn from the situation we need to encompass the energy of the 'attacker' and bring it inside ourselves. This requires us to bring something from our deeper self, something that is impartial and aware.

The arising of a unity is the arising of new meaning. Meaning arises when the thinking processes  continuously going on in ourselves, in the form of dialogues between thoughts, feelings and sensations, come to unitive perception. Only when the three mental functions see through a single eye meaning enters and the triad becomes one.  With the entering of new meaning triad takes an evolutive direction. We grow in understanding.

"When two or three are gathered in my name I am there in their midst" as a reconciling force.

LAW OF THREE (45) Not my will but yours.

LAW OF THREE (45)

NOT MY WILL BUT YOURS.

"We human beings naturally try to achieve satisfaction in all things through our own autonomous

effort and control. This is just as true in our search for spiritual fulfilment as it is in the rest of life.

We may yearn to "let go and let God" but it usually doesn't happen until we have exhausted our own efforts." Gerald May

St. Teresa of Avila. says "el centro del alma es Dios" (The centre of the soul is God"). St. Teresa reminds us that God shares with us all the tribulations of our life.

The discovery of the hidden immanent presence does not come through our own efforts.  It comes when we have exhausted all our own efforts. It may come over when we realise that nothing we have been trying works and that we need help.

"Let go and let God" requires change of signs in the triad. From acting as an initiating force to acting as receptive force.  From closing our hands to opening our hands. From feeling proud of our achievements to feeling humbled by our shortcomings.

God's evolution in us* needs our receptive cooperation. It needs letting God do in us and through us with our conscious consent. It requires letting go our own autonomous efforts to accomplish our aims and allowing God accomplish in us his aims.

This interdependence of God and Man makes us co-creators:

"God Is but cannot Do. Man can Do but Is not. So God Does in Man and Man Is in God. (Father S. Jordana)

An "inter-abading" experience that requires an eternal space to manifest.

* "God will bring people and events into our lives and whatever we may think about them they are designed for the evolution of HIS LIFE in us." Thomas Keating