Lesson 20: Self-Observation and Getting to Know Our Three Centers
Introduction
In this course, we’ve explored precise analysis techniques for forecasting exact tops and bottoms. So, now that you have the secret of predicting the future, you’re a billionaire right away, right? Perhaps it will happen… However, this is not the case for the vast majority of us, who continue to be plagued by psychological contradictions that have caused many of our innumerable failures. Isn’t that crazy? Despite having a straightforward technique that outlines in crystal clear detail when to enter and exit our trades successfully, we unfortunately manage to get in our own way due to greed, fear, doubt, among plenty of other reactions. What are the causes of this event occurring? The causes for this are because we do not know and observe ourselves in order to perceive events as they are.
Do you believe a professional racecar driver understands his vehicle and how it works? He does, of course! He understands exactly what kind of fuel he needs, how much pressure his tires should be at and how much tread they should have, and how external factors, such as weather, affect the automobile. He even has a pit crew, which consists of a group of people who work together to direct their particular skills toward a shared aim.
So, similar to the racecar driver, I could give you the fastest racecar on the planet, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to drive it and win a race in NASCAR tomorrow. To get to that level, you’d have to put in a lot of effort, a lot of hands-on experience, and make a lot of observations of all the intricate workings as a whole. We’d have to learn everything there is to know about working with a pit crew, including the functioning of our racecar, the effects of various environmental factors, and so on. So, why don’t we get down to the nuts and bolts of who we really are, and how, despite owning the ‘fastest racecar on the world,’ we’ll never win NASCAR owing to our lack of experience with all the systems that go into a successful race.
“The first reason for man’s inner slavery is his ignorance, and above all, his ignorance of himself. Without self-knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave, and the plaything of the forces acting upon him.
This is why in all ancient teachings the first demand at the beginning of the way to liberation was: ‘Know thyself’.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
In this trading psychology section, which is based on the Fourth Way’s guiding principles, we will discuss the value of Self-observation and Self-awareness in trading and how they result in greater discernment and emotional control. According to The Fourth Way, everyone has the capacity to reach a higher state of consciousness through the door of Self-observation, which is necessary for success in all spheres of life, not just trading. There is no understanding markets without understanding people… you can’t understand people unless you understand yourself. So let’s explore the Work and how it may relate to the trading world.
The Three Centers
We have three separate centers, according to Fourth Way psychology, often known as The Work: an intellectual center, an emotional center, and a collective called the motor/instinctive/sexual center.
These are psychological divisions of organized activity, not ‘physical centers’ or physical parts per se. Each center is self-contained and runs independently of the others, and it performs a variety of tasks and responsibilities.
intellectual center: processing of thought; reasoning, logic, related to the brain.
emotional center: feelings related to the heart
motor center: activities of movement, habits, actions of the physical body. /instinctual center: digestion, survival instinct, etc. /sexual center: creation, reproduction, growth, and much more, related to the body. (These three centers are grouped together as one center because they are all in relation to the body.)
Each center, as you can see, is a machine that uses and transforms different types of energy. When these centers are employed consciously and intelligently, they harmonize and elevate the human being; but, when they are abused or misused, or when they are out of balance, they produce a tremendous deal of disharmony, conflict, and suffering.
The intellect is merely a tool that we can use to compare various things and remember past experiences or images. The intellectual wrestles with the decision of “should I enter the trade here now or not.”
The emotional center absorbs and transmits all of the many kinds of emotions and sentiments that we feel when we are feeling fear, greed, or excitement. All of this is used to help us navigate different situations in our lives.
The last three’machines’ (together referred to as one) carry out their tasks through the body in order for humans to exist. Our ability to walk around, communicate, drive a car, and press a buy or sell button at work are all made possible by the motor center. The most fundamental activities of our lives—eating, breathing, and surviving—are managed by the instinctive center. The sexual center is the center that drives all of our energy since our spiritual, psychological, and sexual lives are essentially intertwined. We use this energy to develop and reproduce physically, psychologically, and spiritually.
“The sex center is the neutralizing center in relation to the instinctive and the moving centers. The lower story can exist by itself, because the three centers in it are the conductors of the three forces. The thinking and the emotional centers are not indispensable for life.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
There are many people in the world who can be categorized as highly emotional; they are constantly listening to music, possibly creating art, or watching a lot of dramas on television. There are people who are highly intellectual; they enjoy solving problems and learning more from textbooks. When we are out of balance, when one center is more powerful than the others, problems occur within us. Then there are those who prefer being active, such as those who enjoy working out at the gym or who run marathons, or who need to move constantly, like those who are constantly cleaning or fixing something. We could assert that most individuals who fit into these categories are unbalanced. The balanced man, who has mastered the balance of all three centers—intellect, emotion, and action—has discovered a fourth way, a way that awakens his entire Consciousness.
“We know that a man has five centers: the thinking, the emotional, the moving, the instinctive, and the sex. The predominant development of any one center at the expense of the others produces an extremely one-sided type of man, incapable of further development. But if a man brings the work of the five centers within him into harmonious accord… he becomes a finished type of the physically perfect man. The full and proper functioning of five centers brings them into union with the (two) higher centers which introduce the missing principle and put man into direct and permanent connection with objective consciousness and objective knowledge. “
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
We experience challenges in our life and have trouble communicating with others when these three centers are out of balance. In a relationship, it’s possible that you’ll never be able to express what you’re feeling clearly, and you can get frustrated because, despite your repeated explanations, the other person still doesn’t seem to get it. One person utilizes one center, while the other uses a different center, which causes confusion. It’s a popular belief that certain men are more intellectual than woman, and that women are more emotional than men. Even though it’s not always the case, it seems to happen frequently. For instance, the man is attempting to use his intellectual center to solve the issue by saying, “It is logical that 1 plus 2 equals 3.” It doesn’t feel right though, the woman says, trying to describe her emotional response. Due to the imbalance in their three centers, they are unable to communicate with one another. They are unable to communicate because the male sees through his intellect while the female sees through her feelings, which leads to conflict. This type of situation commonly arises within us even inside our very own bodies when the communication of one center in connection to the other centers causes misunderstanding because we do not use all three centers in harmony.
“The difference between knowledge and understanding becomes clear when we realize that knowledge may be the function of one center. Understanding, however, is the function of three centers. Thus the thinking apparatus may know something. But understanding appears only when a man feels and senses what is connected with it.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
We must therefore ask ourselves, “How am I out of balance?” We must observe ourselves in order to understand our behavior. How do we use the energy we have? What psychological tendencies do we possess? What routines and habits do we have? The list is endless.
Self Observation and the Three Centers
Any methodology that makes promises of effectiveness but does not employ the method of passive Self-awareness or Self-observation will fall short of understanding the fundamentals of our psychology. We must first go inward in order to effectively evaluate things in relation to trading or just life in general. Since most individuals are aware of what they are doing, saying, and so forth, they tend to think that they are already observing themselves. This kind of self-observation isn’t authentic self-observation. One must first examine the operations of the three centers within one’s own being in order to be able to really observe oneself.
“For most people, even for educated and thinking people, the chief obstacle in the way of acquiring self-consciousness consists in the fact that they think they possess it, that is, that they possess self-consciousness and everything connected with it; individuality in the sense of a permanent and unchangeable I, will, ability to do, and so on. It is evident that a man will not be interested if you tell him that he can acquire by long and difficult work something which, in his opinion, he already has. On the contrary he will think either that you are mad or that you want to deceive him with a view to personal gain.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
Therefore, the first step in comprehending the motor center—how our bodies work, from the most obvious to the less obvious—is being aware of where you are in your body. Even if we don’t generally do so, it’s easy to observe ourselves standing and sitting, using our hands and feet, and adopting different postures. Being aware of the depth of our breathing or whether we are clenching any particular muscles can be more challenging. In either situation, we frequently are unaware that we are inside the body. Normally, we are so busy with our thoughts that we lose sight of the body altogether. Self-observation must first involve being conscious of or paying attention to the body.
Then, in the intellectual center, we develop awareness of how we think by learning to observe our thoughts. When we pay attention to this center, we start to see how a thought is merely a conception, not a perception, but rather a record, a picture, a memory, a hypothesis, or even just a mirror or reflection of an idea.
We learn that although we sense and feel our emotions, moods, longings, fears, and anxieties, they aren’t always accompanied by physical or intellectual sensations.
“Movements, manifestations, perceptions by separate centers are manifestations of centers but not of man, if we bear in mind that man consists of three centers. The capacity to feel joy, sorrow, cold, heat, hunger, tiredness is in each center.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World
By looking at these three centers, we can see how our ideas and feelings change like the weather and how we can’t rely on them. The same is true for our fleeting emotions. All perceptions, ideas, and emotions are fleeting. The only truly permanent aspect that individuals have is and has always been the Perceiver. The consciousness that sees and has seen throughout life is our genuine, essential essence. Because of this, whenever we allow any thought, feeling, or experience to capture our Perceiver’s attention, we further trap our perception in illusion and miss out on what truly is.
So essentially there is just one location we can rely on, and that is our Perception, or our Being. The goal of Self-observation is to become aware of this so that we do not put our trust and reliance on transient things that are unreliable and fleeting. Instead, we ought to direct our time and effort inside, into the psychology and eternal consciousness of the Perceiver.
Because everything outside of ourselves is transient, subject to entropy, and subject to passing away just as sensation, thought, and feeling, we cannot rely on anything outside of ourselves. We are unable to rely on our bank accounts, our homes, our jobs, our marriages, our degrees, or any politicians.
“The great liberation is liberation from influences outside us. The lesser liberation is liberation from influences within us.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World
Doesn’t the fact that humans have an intellectual center where they may perceive thoughts suggest that thoughts cannot be the Perceiver? This must infer that the emotional center is not the Perceiver since it, like the intellect, is not the Perceiver. Don’t believe me; rather, see it for yourself. You’ll realize you’re not any of these three centers when you recognize them in yourself. You are the one who is seeing these centers; you are the Perceiver. These three centers are always obscuring our view, which contains our true nature at its core.
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
– 1 Corinthians 3: 16, 17
Our Perception
Imagine if I showed you just a single clip from a movie reel and asked you to tell me what the entire movie was about just by looking at that one frame. Isn’t that ridiculous? There are numerous plots inside plots, as well as dramas within dramas, provoking a wide range of emotions, thoughts, and reactions. Every day, we go about our lives in a similar fashion, only perceiving a small portion of what is truly presented. According to quantum physics, our physical world, which we can see and touch, only makes up only 1% of our total reality.
The Kabbalists also say that we barely see 1% of reality, because we only believe in and rely on our five senses. That means we’re losing out on 99 percent of what’s outside of our sensory perspective. Events in our 1% universe appear to happen at random and with no discernible cause. We react to these random events without fully comprehending their causes or anticipating their implications. These mechanical reactions are based on what is inaccurate. On the other side of the 99 percent unseen universe, we are continuously “in the dark.” According to Kabbalah, we can find wisdom, success, enduring contentment, boundless knowledge, eternal joy, total order, perfection, and spiritual light in the 99 percent unseen. Quantum physicists have discovered that there is a field that pervades everything and is the source of all creation. The Source, the seed, and the hidden origin of the physical world can all be found through Self-observation.
“Take a street of a large town, in all its details, and you will get an enormous diversity of facts. But how much is hidden behind these facts and cannot be seen at all! How many desires, passions, greedy and covetous thoughts, how much suffering both petty and great, how much deceit, falsity, lies, how many invisible threads – sympathies, antipathies, interests – linking this street with the whole world, with all the past and all the future. If we picture all this to ourselves we shall see clearly that a street cannot be studied merely by what is visible. We must probe deeper. The complex and vast phenomenon of the street will not reveal its infinite noumenon, connected both with eternity and with time, with the past, with the future and with the whole world.
Consequently we have every right to regard the visible phenomenal world as a section of some other world, infinitely more complex, which at a given moment is manifesting itself for us in the first one.”
– P.D. Ouspensky, Tertium Organum
Here and Now
As a result, by becoming aware of oneself and observing our three centers, our training commences right now, in this very second. Analyze the relationship between the Perceiver and the perceivable. We teach ourselves to do this over time, through our everyday interactions, in all areas of our life.
“He who has gotten rid of the disease of “tomorrow” has a chance of achieving what he is here for.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World
Actual psychological development can result from Self-observation, not in the future, not tomorrow, not when you close a big trade, get your first million, read that one book, get married, etc. Your psychological development happens right now and will keep happening; it doesn’t happen in the past or the future. It is always based on your current internal state of being, thus it will never be or was ever dependent on any outside occurrence. Because your degree of consciousness affects whether your trading and your life are successful or unsuccessful, consider who you truly are and learn to know your Being, the Perceiver.
“We live in an imaginary past and an imaginary future because we cannot live in the real present: we do not exist. We are not able to see the limitations of our lives and so we cannot see anything about what can be done in the future. We fail to see that in order to be here and now, we have to be.”
– Gurdjieff’s student, John G. Bennett
Imagine yourself now as a stream of energy circling the universe. All of our life’s energy is included in that stream of energy. It is the result of all of our acts and their consequences. The result of all that is what is happening right now. Your physical characteristics, mental makeup, cultural background, passions, aspirations, fears, and all of your abilities all play a part in establishing who you are, where you are, and everything that confines and holds you down. All of the things you identify with “me” or “myself” are actually just this stream of energy that has been concentrated into the present moment here and now.
“Time in itself does not exist, there is only the totality of the results issuing from all the cosmic phenomena present in a given place.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, All and Everything
Everything we’ve done throughout our lives has been a stream of energy leading up to this point, and now here we are. What will now occur to this energy? It is not up to our jobs, our spouses, our homes, our nations, or the languages we speak to determine it. Our financial position or degree of education have no bearing on its momentum. Our level of consciousness has an impact on the way we perceive the world, how we witness it, and what we see. These factors determine how far along in life we are. If we can’t see ourselves and our surroundings, we can’t control where we are going. Similar to this, our capacity for perception is essential to our success.
We gain a new perspective on our circumstance when we understand that how we spend our lives right now will determine our place in this life. We start to see the necessity of acting, as opposed to letting the flow of life’s events carry us along. We start to understand that we control our own fate. All of this underlines how important it is to start working on ourselves right away so that we may start to improve both our environment and ourselves.
We Have to Choose
Making the decision to be free right now is the first step toward living a truly liberated life free from restrictions. That’s a choice. To be free, to liberate our hearts, minds, and bodies from the delusion of our internal and external circumstances, is a choice we make every day, every moment of it.
When we discuss time and energy, we are all making choices about how we will spend our energy, use our consciousness, and pay attention right now, in this very second. It is the energy of life, the energy that enables us to be in the present. However, because energy constantly enters into our three centers in every moment and because how we use that energy determines who we are, what we will be, what will happen to us, and where we are going, we constantly adjust that energy based on our actions, thoughts, and emotions.
The person who chooses to be free refuses to be constrained by any thought, feeling, or sensation; instead, they merely observe them, neither resisting them nor giving in to them, but instead remaining in equilibrium, conscious, and aware of the energy flowing through them; they are not enslaved by them but rather remain in balance, conscious, and aware of them. They do not react, but rather merely observe and consciously perceive them. That person’s experience is completely different as a result of being exposed to the true nature of time and energy.
“It is necessary to observe yourself differently than you do in ordinary life. It is necessary to have a different attitude, not the attitude you had till now. You know where your habitual attitudes have led you till now. There is no sense in going on as before.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World
Right now, we have the choice to let our thoughts, feelings, or physical urges and sensations to deceive us. The choice is made by us.
It is a choice. In order to avoid the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that a stressful trade brings out in us, we have decided to allow ourselves to be hypnotized by the television, start scrolling through social media, or grab a snack. By choosing to be distracted, we have chosen to avoid what is truly happening internally.
When we choose to indulge in our fear of what the market might do following a given announcement, by starting to worry about what will happen next, we have chosen that fear and it has clouded our perception.
When we make a choice based on a desire for wealth, material stability, or a sense of safety, we have chosen an illusion and are submerged in the ignorance of that choice.
“Without struggle, no progress and no result. Every breaking of habit produces a change in the machine.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World
We can only become balanced, free, and perceptive if we are not craving or avoiding the ideas, feelings, and sensations of our three centers, but rather simply removing ignorance by perceiving the flow of energy between them, observing, knowing, acting, and Being.
“When you do a thing, he (Gurdjieff) once said, do it with the whole self. One thing at a time. Now I sit here and I eat. For me nothing exists in the world except this food, this table. I eat with the whole attention. So you must do – in everything. When you write a letter, do not at the same time think what will be the cost of laundering that shirt; when you compute laundering costs, do not think about the letter you must write. Everything has its time. To be able to do one thing at a time – that is a property of Man, not man in quotation marks.”
– Gurdjieff’s student, Kathryn Hulme
Energy
We are merely conduits for the flow of energy, which we can control in one of two ways: intentionally retaining it or wasting it carelessly. When our three centers are in balance, the flow of energy in a completed circuit will continue to flow evenly. When our three centers are out of balance, that energy is wasted, leaking out of the center that was being misused.
“Conscious use of energy is a paying investment; automatic use is a wasteful expenditure.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World
Self-observation in our everyday affairs will most likely reveal to us the various ways in which we waste energy. Which one of your feet or fingers are you tapping? Why? Through physical shaking, we lose energy; we are losing energy internally. These physical movements are triggered by vibrations brought on by an imbalance in our three centers. Common causes include impatience, annoyance, anxiety, and stress.
“Tension needs energy. If tension is absent, less energy is spent. If my arm is tense, as it is now, a continuous current is required, which means that it is connected with the accumulators.(…) One thing is definitely known: one of the chief leakages of energy is due to our involuntary tension.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World
Do we feel tense, in pain, or uneasy? All of this is due to our mental condition, to the imbalance that exists in our three centers. Breathing irregularly is the same. When we are worried, our breathing patterns shift. Whether we are happy, sad, or angry, our bodies get tense and our muscles clench. This tension is an indication that our minds are out of balance.
When we are psychologically balanced, our breathing will be calm, steady, and relaxed, and any of these peaceful characteristics in our physical body, emotions, or intellect will be a sign of this.
“In order to regulate and balance the work of the three centers whose functions constitute our life, it is necessary to learn to economize the energy produced by our organism, not to waste this energy on unnecessary functions, and to save it for that activity which will gradually connect the lower centers with the higher.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
Entropy
All energy has a source of power or a starting point. Energy is measured as a wave, with the higher and closer the waves are, the more powerful they are. When it’s closest to its power source, it’s at its most powerful. As an energy wave moves away from its source of energy, it becomes lower and lower in frequency until it flattens out into nothingness. I’ve essentially just explained the second law of thermodynamics to you. The second law of thermodynamics basically states that energy seeks its lowest form, which means that energy is stronger near its power source and eventually weakens as it moves away from it. Because energy is vibration, this would imply a loss of energy, which is referred to as entropy. Entropy is a simple concept: energy is always gravitating toward negativity or inert uniformity.
“Everything existing in the world “falls to the bottom.” The “bottom” for any part of the Universe is its nearest “stability,” and this stability is the point toward which all the lines of force from all directions converge.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, All and Everything
If we are merely conduits for this energy, what is it and where does it come from? Light is synonymous with energy, and wouldn’t you argue that one of light’s key functions is to let you see? Our consciousness, or perception, has allowed us to perceive since the beginning of time. This same energy source is also known by many many names, including your Inner Being, Buddha Nature, the Absolute, the Universe, God, and so on. Peace, love, truth, life, purity, eternity, unity, omniscience, and omnipresence are some of the properties of this energy. Because these qualities are already dormant in the potential of our own existent nature, we do not need to create them; instead, we simply need to tap into their presence within us right now, allowing our consciousness to perceive in accordance with the current state of affairs, with reality as it is.
“Thus preached Hermes: “O people of the earth, men born and made of the elements, but with the spirit of the Divine Man within you, rise from your sleep of ignorance! Be sober and thoughtful. Realize that your home is not in the earth but in the Light. Why have you delivered yourselves over unto death, having power to partake of immortality Repent, and change your minds. Depart from the dark light and forsake corruption forever. Prepare yourselves to climb through the Seven Rings and to blend your souls with the eternal Light.”
– Manly P. Hall, The Life and Teachings of Thoth, Hermes Trismegistus
If perception is the main attribute of this energy Source with its main state being that of peace then what is its opposite, the lowest point of this vibration in us psychologically speaking? It would be everything that we do mechanically, unconsciously, and subconsciously. Everything that we do mechanically ends up being a use of low grade corrupt energy and being furthest away on the scale of entropy from its Source therefore we become it. Some of the main culprits of energy loss is our inner chatter, self justification, as well as all of our negative emotions that are all based on cravings, aversions, and our ignorant sense of Self; which all give birth to attributes of chaos, discord, tension, darkness, worry, fear, greed, etc. These negative thoughts and feelings have their origins in matters involving carnal, earthy, and materialistic interests. If the Source represents our true nature, these negative characteristics are the furthest from who we truly are.
“I am composing the ATMA-BODHA (Advaita Vedanta text), this treatise of the Knowledge of the Self, for those who have purified themselves by austerities and are peaceful in heart and calm, who are free from cravings and are desirous of liberation.”
– Adi Shankara, Atma Bodha (Self-Knowledge)
You send energy wherever you focus your attention. There have been instances when someone in your peripheral vision was staring at you, and you could feel their attention sending you energy, so you know this is true. This means that you can sustain that energy if you pay attention to yourself and your three centers. We are frequently unconscious of where our attention is directed, which results in our being constantly worn out because we are also unaware of where our energy is being expended. We are constantly wasting our energy, as a result we need coffee or energy drinks.
“All our movements are automatic. Our thoughts and feelings are just as automatic. The automatism of thought and feeling is definitely connected with the automatism of movement. One cannot be changed without the other. So that if a man’s attention is concentrated, let us say, on changing automatic thoughts, then habitual movements and habitual postures will interfere with this new course of thought by attaching to it old habitual associations.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
Thoughts are a type of energy that has a source of power. Over time, thought energy tends to gravitate toward greater and greater negativity. This is what happens to energy when it dissipates; it isn’t biased or prejudiced, it simply is. Feelings and behaviors are the same way. As a result, thoughts, feelings, and acts that are closer to the energy Source have the traits of serenity and selflessness, while those that are further away have the attributes of fear and selfishness. Solar energy, for example, is not polluted at its source; if we send a rocket toward the sun, it is so clean at its source that it will burn away anything that is not of its own nature. As energy goes further away from the sun, it becomes increasingly polluted with corrupt energy. We’ve been able to harness solar energy from its passive state and make it productive during the night for thousands of years, but now look at how we’ve been able to harness it from its passive state and make it productive during the night, with solar panels. We didn’t have to add anything to it; all we had to do was take advantage of it in a different way.
“The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind, senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work using you as a mere instrument.”
– The Bhagavad Gita
We must use our Self-observation to appropriately manage our energy, which necessitates a fight against the ever-increasing pressure of entropy upon us. Walking upwards on an escalator that is sliding downwards is a basic example of this principle of entropy in action. To combat the constant energy traveling downwards, you must apply force, energy, and effort, and if you remain complacent and do nothing by simply standing there lazily, you will finally be brought to the bottom or the lowest level. That downward trajectory of degradation pervades everything everywhere, giving the world its appearance of impermanence. For example, without intervention if left to nature, a piece of iron will rust and break down, our bodies will age and whither and die, a piece of fruit left out will rot, and so on.
“This is a law. It is difficult to climb the hill but very easy to slide down it.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
We must realize that we are not our thoughts, feelings, or actions, but rather the chooser of them. You choose them from an outside source. You don’t make them, but you do get to choose them. “Well, if I get to pick my ideas, feelings, and behaviors, why would I ever choose bad ones?” you might wonder. It has to do with our culture, which has shaped our values and perceptions of ourselves.
Our culture is essentially like water, and we are the fish that swim in it. The question now is whether or not the fish is aware that it is swimming in water. The answer is, of course, no. A fish does not realize it lives in water until we pull it out, at which point it becomes acutely aware. It just appears to be normal. That’s how it is with us; despite the fact that our culture is poisoned, we have no idea since everything just seems normal. We can easily recognize pollution in someone else’s culture, but we can’t see it in our own. As a result, pollution in our culture becomes a problem since we are unaware of it.
All Events are Neutral
If you thought the idea of us choosing your thoughts was weird, wait until you hear this. All occurrences are neutral in nature; they are merely things that occur across time. It is our choice of how we view and react to these events that determines whether they are positive or negative for us.
Now, I’m sure some of you, if not all of you, are thinking to yourselves, “OK, I’m thinking of a number of incidents in my life that are anything but neutral.” Actually, events are neutral, but we filter them through our three centers, which include all of the influences of our culture and prior experiences. These will determine which of the millions and billions of thoughts available to us we will choose to consider. So whatever is in our culture will impact what thoughts we choose to think, and if we choose anxious thoughts, entropy will attract other negative thoughts, creating a negative downward trajectory. In this low vibratory condition, nothing positive will ever come out of it or be accomplished. If you choose a positive elevating idea, on the other hand, you will attract additional positive uplifting thoughts, creating an upward positive spiral. We want to learn how to be in such a situation. When you strike one of two tuning forks on opposite ends of a room, the other begins to vibrate as well. So the idea is to understand how to stay close to the Source and raise your vibration by simply changing your thinking towards the Source.
Now, I understand that the concept of events being neutral is a little out-there, so we’ll present to you the Taoist Parable of the Chinese Farmer to demonstrate that events are indeed neutral.
One day, a farmer was tilling his field with a big, strong horse. A passerby saw this and told him he was lucky to have found such an animal to do the work for him. The wise sage saw this interaction, smiled and said “who knows what’s good or bad”.
A few weeks later, the horse managed to break loose from its stall. It became scared and ran away. A passerby saw this and told the farmer he was unlucky for such a thing to have happened. The wise sage saw this interaction, smiled and said “who knows what’s good or bad”.
The horse returned the following week bringing with it several wild horses. The farmer now believed he was very lucky. The wise sage saw this, smiled and said “who knows what’s good or bad”.
The farmer’s son went out to tame one of the wild horses. He got kicked hard and broke his leg. The farmer now believed he was unlucky. The wise sage smiled and said “who knows what’s good or bad” .
A war broke out and young men were drafted. The farmer’s son was spared because of his broken leg. The farmer no longer knew what to think of his luck. The wise sage smiled and said “who knows what’s good or bad” .
This brings up a crucial issue to make: the concept of “good” and “bad.” Enlightenment is thus the arousal of awareness of the ALL, the perception and comprehension of REALITY the way it is with impartial cognition. It is vital to remove anything that blocks the REALITY from entering, such as our defects, vices, ego, incorrect psychological aspects, etc.
I’ll make an analogy that traders will recognize. Due to this peculiar link between “good” and “bad” in market functions, the vast majority of the largely uneducated populace will panic when particular markets or assets crash. Generally speaking, people believe that when prices rise, it is “good,” and when they fall, it is “bad.” The majority of objective or knowledgeable traders view both as equal and are capable of taking advantage of market volatility from both rises and falls. In a sense, they are actually seeing everything at once, which is far closer to experiencing reality as it is.
All events are neutral. There are no good or bad events. They are what they are. They are simply one-time or isolated events that occur throughout a period of time. When we filter that neutral occurrence through our ideas of who we think we are, our experiences, or our culture, however, it determines what kind of thoughts, feelings, and actions we will choose. We see the world as we are, not as it really is. As a result, we can see that our subjective nature often impacts whether we see something in a favorable or negative perspective. The idea is to begin to understand that all events are neutral because who knows what is good or bad.
“Let us remember that in pure esotericism good is all that is in its place; bad is all that is out of its place. For instance, water is good in its place, but if the water is out of place, if it floods the house, then it would cause damage; it would be bad and harmful.
Likewise, fire in the kitchen, when in its place, besides being useful, is good. Yet, the fire out of its place, burning the furniture of the living room, would be bad and harmful.
Thus, any virtue, no matter how holy it might be, is good in its place; yet, it is bad and harmful out of its place. We can harm others with our virtues. Therefore, it is indispensable to place virtues in their corresponding place.
What would you say about a priest who preaches the Word of the Lord inside a brothel? What would you say about a meek and tolerant male who blesses a gang of assailants attempting to rape his wife and daughters? What would you say about that type of tolerance taken to such an extreme? What would you say about the charitable attitude of a man who, instead of taking food home, shares his money among beggars who have a vice? What would be your opinion of a helpful man who in a given moment lends a dagger to a murderer?
Remember, dear reader, that crime also hides within the rhythm of poetry.
There is much virtue in the perverse one and as much evil in the virtuous one.
Even though it may appear incredible, crime also hides in the very perfume of prayer.
Crime disguises itself as a saint. It uses the best virtues; it presents itself as a martyr and even officiates in the sacred temples.
As the sense of intimate Self-observation develops in us, through its continuous use we can see all those “I’s” that serve as a basic foundation to our individual temperament, whether it be sanguine or nervous, phlegmatic or bilious.
Although you may not believe it, dear reader, the fact is that behind the temperament that we possess, within the most remote profundities of our psyche, the most abominable diabolic creations are hidden.
To see such creations, to observe these monstrosities of hell within which our very same consciousness is imprisoned, is only possible with the ever progressive development of the sense of intimate Self-observation.
If our feelings are normally produced by our thoughts, and our actions are produced by our feelings. If thoughts are seeds, feelings and behaviors are fruits, then choosing thoughts is the first step.
“16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
– Matthew 7:16-20
You have complete freedom to think whatever you choose, but you do not have complete control over the feelings and acts that result from those thoughts. Negative ideas are inaccurate and produce undesirable results. If the Source is pure, anything that is closer to It is pure, and if you choose thoughts that are further away from It, you are choosing filthy energy that produces poor results. Only the power source can provide the truth beyond duality. Because thoughts, feelings, and actions are all intertwined, if we choose the seed of corrupt feelings, we will reap corrupt thoughts and behaviors, just as our physical posture can influence our moods and thoughts.
“You must understand that the three principal centers, the thinking, the emotional, and the moving, are connected together and, in a normal man, they are always working in unison. This unison is what presents the chief difficulty in work on oneself. What is meant by this unison? It means that a definite work of the thinking center is connected with a definite work of the emotional and moving centers—that is to say, that a certain kind of thought is inevitably connected with a certain kind of emotion (or mental state) and with a certain kind of movement (or posture); and one evokes the other, that is, a certain kind of emotion (or mental state) evokes certain movements or postures and certain thoughts, and a certain kind of movement or posture evokes certain emotions or mental states, and so forth. Everything is connected and one thing cannot exist without another thing. (…)
In ordinary conditions we have no conception how much our thinking, feeling, and moving functions depend upon one another, although we know, at the same time, how much our moods and our emotional states can depend upon our movements and postures. If a man takes a posture which with him corresponds to a feeling of sadness or despondency, then within a short time he is sure to feel sad or despondent. Fear, disgust, nervous agitation, or, on the other hand, calm, can be created by an intentional change of posture. But as each of man’s functions, thinking, emotional, and moving, has its own definite repertory all of which are in constant interaction, a man can never get out of the charmed circle of his postures.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
Knowing these externally verifiable truths, we must also see them as interior psychological truths. We cannot simply drift around aimlessly in the ocean of life, letting the waves of external and internal influences to drag us wherever they will. If we have a destination in mind, an aim, we must first climb to the top of our ship to determine where we should steer our path. Then we steer our lives according to our directed aim by seizing the mast of our ship through willpower and struggle. Success is the result of a struggle, a struggle against one’s own self.
“The next object of self-observation must be habits in general. Every grown-up man consists wholly of habits, although he is often unaware of it and even denies having any habits at all. This can never be the case. All three centers are filled with habits and a man can never know himself until he has studied all his habits. The observation and the study of habits is particularly difficult because, in order to see and ‘record’ them, one must escape from them, free oneself from them, if only for a moment. So long as a man is governed by a particular habit, he does not observe it, but at the very first attempt, however feeble, to struggle against it, he feels it and notices it. Therefore in order to observe and study habits one must try to struggle against them.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
This is why great Sages have taught us that arriving at the experience of truth requires the cessation of all thoughts. Our fundamental essence, emptiness, will allow us to encounter the brilliant Light of Truth. That ever-present knowledge, which is devoid of conditions and has no features. Your intelligence, whose ultimate nature is emptiness, should not be viewed as an emptiness that is nothingness, but also as the intelligence itself, free of shackles, giving birth to peace. Peace is the litmus test that tells us if we’re on track, in balance, and getting closer to the Source’s truth. If your breathing is calm and peaceful, and your muscles are relaxed and serene, you’re on the best path to perceiving things objectively. Tension does not aid us in any way. A professional bodybuilder can still lift weights while observing himself and managing his breath, and an MMA fighter who remains calm will be fluid and able to evade kicks and punches while conserving his energy for ground grappling if necessary. Relaxation, peace, and concentration all contribute to energy conservation.
