“But objective knowledge, the idea of unity included, belongs to objective consciousness. The forms which express this knowledge when perceived by subjective consciousness are inevitably distorted and, instead of truth, they create more and more delusions. With objective consciousness it is possible to see and feel the unity of everything. But for subjective consciousness the world is split up into millions of separate and unconnected phenomena. Attempts to connect these phenomena into some sort of system in a scientific or a philosophical way lead to nothing because man cannot reconstruct the idea of the whole starting from separate facts and they cannot divine the principles of the division of the whole without knowing the laws upon which this division is based.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff , In Search of the Miraculous
The Three Factors of Subjectivity
There are three forces at the root of and at the source of all suffering:
- ignorance
- craving
- aversion
The Three Forces work psychologically through us to bring about suffering, agony, delusion, torment, and degeneration. All sorrow originates from them. Because our misunderstanding of this fact is so commonplace within us, we are in a fundamental predicament where we are grasping at, or striving to cling to, a flawed sense of self. We believe we are what we feel, think and picture ourselves to be, which is the basis for this misunderstanding. We mistakenly believe that our name, our memories, and this body make up who we are.; nevertheless, all of this is incorrect. We have a very flawed notion of “I,” and we avoid everything that contradicts it because of this. Do you see how these Three Forces interact? We shun anything that doesn’t include our name, language, culture, accent, beliefs, or anything else that violates our sense of self, we crave things that do, and all of it is because of the ignorance of who we REALLY are.
“Freedom, liberation, this must be the aim of man. To become free, to be liberated from slavery: this is what a man ought to strive for when he becomes even a little conscious of his position. There is nothing else for him, and nothing else is possible so long as he remains a slave both inwardly and outwardly. But he cannot cease to be a slave outwardly while he remains a slave inwardly. Therefore in order to become free, man must gain inner freedom.
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
As a result, when we speak of ignorance, we are referring to a lack of perception. We would realize that there is no reason to crave or avoid anything if we had pure perception since we would be viewing life as it is. You see, ignorance, craving, and aversion are all the same thing, which is a constant movement of energy in our psychology. This is significant for us because it is at the basis of all suffering; every form of suffering that occurs arises from the interaction of these three factors: ignorance, craving, and aversion. Because they are so deep and profound, these three have been symbolized in numerous ways and given many titles in every religion. Although they are only three, they have many attributes and qualities.
“A person unknowing: the actions performed by him, born of craving, born of aversion, and born of ignorance, whether many or few, are experienced right here: no other ground is found.
So a person, knowing (having Gnosis), sheds craving, aversion, and ignorance; giving rise to clear knowledge, he sheds all bad destinations.”
– Buddha Shakyamuni, Nidana Sutta
In Tibetan Buddhism they represent these forces by three animals in the center of what is called the Bhavachakra (Wheel of Becoming). Publicly, traditionally, these are explained as:
- a bird that represents craving
- a snake that represents aversion
- a pig or a dog that represents ignorance
As a result, these are the three forces as influenced by our distorted perception. Therefore, suffering is caused by the interaction of these three forces.
We have a kind of ignorance that shuns suffering and craves pleasure. As a result, we commit a number of mistakes. We bind ourselves to them psychologically, emotionally, and physically. Every mistake we make in the use of energy gets stored and crystallized. If we pay attention to whatever sporadically, we are wasting our energy and are unaware of our own ignorance, craving, and aversion. Surely, ignorance, craving, and aversion obscure what we perceive within and outside of us, causing us to misinterpret all parts of life, to make mistakes, to hold incorrect viewpoints, and to see things through the illusion of those three causes of or conditions. We only perceive what supports our sense of self and ignore what does not, implying that we are unknowingly reinforcing this false sense of self in all we do. We have a sense of self that elicits feelings of pride and accomplishment. We believe we are competent in our field. We will look for ways to support and strengthen that at every moment, in every scenario, and we will avoid anything that contradicts it. We try not to notice our inconsistencies, to avoid dealing with anything that contradicts our self-perceptions. So, if we make a mistake, anything that we may have done incorrectly, we want to conceal it not only from others but also from ourselves, and we avoid it. However, if there is anything that we have done exceptionally well, something that has been beneficial, we enjoy it and delight in it and tell the world. We are using energy driven by ignorance, craving, and aversion in both circumstances, and every time we feed the energy of this form of participation, we are deepening the ignorance that causes us to suffer because we fail to see reality as it truly is.
When we crave or long for something or someone, it is at the forefront of our awareness; when we wish to avoid someone, it is easy to imagine ourselves going in the opposite way. However, due to our subjective nature, it is far more difficult to see when it comes to ignorance; it is that not-so-obvious Third Force that causes our suffering.
The Three Factors of Objectivity
Three things are at the basis of our wrongdoings and sufferings: craving, aversion, and ignorance. To overcome suffering, those three forces must be actively turned into three additional factors that will liberate our psyche:
- Death: the eradication of psychological factors that sustain a clutching of the illusory sense of “I” and all of its manufactured subjectivity: that traps our consciousness.
- Birth: the ability to develop one’s own free consciousness as a Perceiver.
- Sacrifice: enable yourself to let go of your reactionary urges and instincts. Put your consciousness to good use for the benefit of others, to sacrifice the “I”.
We talk about death in terms of the death of our defects, impurities, and causes of suffering — all of those aspects of ourselves that need to be eradicated, that need to be starved out of existence. So, in order for that to happen, we must first learn about them, see them, observe them, study them, and get to know them.
Without light, we are unable to see. Being able to perceive that light is the state of enlightenment. Thus, awakening awareness, perception and comprehension of reality, and unbiased thought, feeling, and action constitute enlightenment. Anything that prevents the light from entering, such as our defects, vices, improper psychological characteristics, etc., must be removed.
Question: In what sense was it said that one who has not died cannot be born?
Answer: All religions speak about death during this life on earth. Death must come before rebirth. But what must die? False confidence in one’s own knowledge, self-love and egoism. Our egoism must be broken. We must realize that we are very complicated machines, and so this process of breaking is bound to be a long and difficult task. Before real growth becomes possible, our personality must die.
– G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World
The second factor is birth, which marks the dawn of a new life in us, a sense of awareness and perception that allows us to perceive things objectively, as they truly are, free of any attachments or misconceptions.
The third is to make sacrifices. We define sacrifice as giving up our own interests, desires, and longings, as well as our aversions, anxieties, and doubts in overall. For the purpose of advancement in our lives, we must make a sacrifice, and that sacrifice is the false self, which must be forced out of existence in the process of transformation from who we are now to who we could and should be if we lived according to our true nature.
“Without sacrifice nothing can be attained. But if there is anything in the world that people do not understand it is the idea of sacrifice. They think they have to sacrifice something that they have. (…) In actual fact they have to sacrifice only what they imagine they have and which in reality they do not have. They must sacrifice their fantasies. But this is difficult for them, very difficult. It is much easier to sacrifice real things.
Another thing that people must sacrifice is their suffering. It is very difficult also to sacrifice one’s suffering. A man will renounce any pleasures you like but he will not give up his suffering. (…)
Nothing can be attained without suffering but at the same time one must begin by sacrificing suffering.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
So, by being aware and attentive in the present moment, these three factors can be set into action, kicking off a process of inner transformation from the beings we are now to the beings we can become by establishing an entirely new way of Being, of seeing.
Working on one’s own “I’s” or egos and putting an end to them is clearly referred to as death. Birth occurs naturally as a result of this, and if the instructions are used correctly, one will save energy rather than waste it. And the final factor of sacrifice, a sacrifice of our cravings, aversions, and ignorance, culminates the entire process.
Now, if we take a step back from these terms and examine these three factors, it becomes clear that we cannot separate them and produce anything useful. To truly put these three variables into action in our lives, we must learn to see them as one thing – three sides of the same coin that must be actively engaged. Death, birth, and sacrifice are all aspects of the same activity. We shall realize that it is true when we examine death, birth, and sacrifice in our own endeavors to be awake and be attentive. It is self-evident that we cannot have a death without first having a birth, and that we cannot have a sacrifice without first having a death. These three components are activated through developing and strengthening consciousness, which is the foundation of perception and comprehension. The condition of our consciousness determines whether we succeed or fail; it also determines whether we improve or regress.
“By offering sacrifices one achieves liberation; by offering sacrifices one reaches heaven; by offering sacrifices a king defeats enemy kings.”
–Kalika Purana (67.5-6)
When a seed is planted, it must die in order to grow into a tree, and the energy it gathers through time is finally transferred to be sacrificed to generate additional seeds to feed its environment. Similarly, the ego must be sacrificed in order to transmit that energy to the Being and that birth attributes to benefit others. In order to give birth to something greater, we must destroy something within us. For example; fear must be sacrificed in order for courage to be born.
“We have already spoken enough about the meaning of being ‘born.’ This relates to the beginning of a new growth of essence, the beginning of the formation of individuality, the beginning of the appearance of one indivisible I.
But in order to be able to attain this or at least begin to attain it, a man must die, that is, he must free himself from a thousand petty attachments and identifications which hold him in the position in which he is. He is attached to everything in his life, attached to his imagination, attached to his stupidity, attached even to his sufferings, possibly to his sufferings more than to anything else. He must free himself from this attachment. Attachment to things, identification with things, keep alive a thousand useless I’s in a man. These I’s must die in order that the big I may be born. But how can they be made to die? They do not want to die. It is at this point that the possibility of awakening comes to the rescue. To awaken means to realize one’s nothingness, that is to realize one’s complete and absolute mechanicalness and one’s complete and absolute helplessness. And it is not sufficient to realize it philosophically in words. It is necessary to realize it in clear, simple, and concrete facts, in one’s own facts. When a man begins to know himself a little he will see in himself many things that are bound to horrify him. So long as a man is not horrified at himself he knows nothing about himself. A man has seen in himself something that horrifies him. He decides to throw it off, stop it, put an end to it. But however many efforts he makes, he feels that he cannot do this, that everything remains as it was. Here he will see his impotence, his helplessness, and his nothingness; or again, when he begins to know himself a man sees that he has nothing that is his own, that is, that all that he has regarded as his own, his views, thoughts, convictions, tastes, habits, even faults and vices, all these are not his own, but have been either formed through imitation or borrowed from somewhere ready-made. In feeling this a man may feel his nothingness. And in feeling his nothingness a man should see himself as he really is, not for a second, not for a moment, but constantly, never forgetting it.
This continual consciousness of his nothingness and of his helplessness will eventually give a man the courage to ‘die,’ that is, to die, not merely mentally or in his consciousness, but to die in fact and to renounce actually and forever those aspects of himself which are either unnecessary from the point of view of his inner growth or which hinder it. These aspects are first of all his ‘false I,’ and then all the fantastic ideas about his ‘individuality,’ ‘will,’ ‘consciousness,’ ‘capacity to do,’ his powers, initiative, determination, and so on.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
The Three Factors of Successful Action
“Exteriorly man’s being has many different sides: activity or passivity; truthfulness or a tendency to lie; sincerity or insincerity; courage, cowardice; self-control, profligacy; irritability, egoism, readiness for self-sacrifice, pride, vanity, conceit, industry, laziness, morality, depravity; all these and much more besides make up the being of man.
But all this is entirely mechanical in man. If he lies it means that he cannot help lying. If he tells the truth it means that he cannot help telling the truth, and so it is with everything. Everything happens, a man can do nothing either in himself or outside himself.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
The essential goal is to get to know yourself on a deep level; getting to know yourself also means getting to know the world around you, because the exterior world is merely a reflection of the internal world. Knowing is being, being is doing, and doing is mastering your Self-observation and reclaiming your true Self. Knowing the Self is becoming free of all the factors that have been subjected to polluted energy throughout our life, such as our culture and social conditioning. To be liberated from external forces and materiality’s complete dominance. To that aim, man is kept asleep (in the sense of The Work), and anything he does is done mechanically and under the direct hypnosis of life, despite the fact that man may think himself completely cognizant and aware of whatever he is doing and wants to do. All of this is, of course, owing to the hypnosis that man is subjected to as part of his life as a slave. That is where man is right now. Only when he becomes conscious of his situation does he have a chance of waking up and becoming somebody different.
“As a matter of fact he is of course unable to do anything of the kind because not only has he no control over things outside himself but he has no control even over things within himself. This last must be very clearly understood and assimilated; at the same time it must be understood that control over things begins with control over things in ourselves, with control over ourselves. A man who cannot control himself, or the course of things within himself, can control nothing.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
When we say “knowledge” in this course, we don’t mean “stuffing the intellect with facts,” but rather “knowledge of the consciousness gained through experience.” Perception is all there is to consciousness. Because consciousness exists outside of the bodily senses, it is not reliant on them. The ego is not real consciousness, which we all have to some degree.
This lack of understanding or perspective is the source of all of our suffering. We suffer because we are unaware of the consequences of our actions, as well as the ignorance of our own true Self. We don’t know who we truly are since we can’t see it if we’re conditioned by psychological defects or egos. To be able to see the Self is to be able to break free from our psychological conditioning. We naturally perceive reality when we are free of psychological conditioning.
“know (v.)
Old English cnawan (class VII strong verb; past tense cneow, past participle cnawen), “perceive a thing to be identical with another,” also “be able to distinguish” generally (tocnawan); “perceive or understand as a fact or truth” (opposed to believe); “know how (to do something),” from Proto Germanic *knew- (source also of Old High German bi-chnaan, ir-chnaan “to know”), from PIE root *gno- “to know.”
– etymonline.com
One must be proactive in life in order to know, be, and do. We are currently acting in a reactive manner, which means that external stimuli are the sole source of our actions. It’s important to strike a balance between being proactive and reactive. Begin by performing the polar opposite of what you are accustomed to crave or avoid. This will set the wheels in motion for the states of to do, be, and know. The more you focus on the Source, the more you will notice things being done to you in an uncorrupted high energy state. Rather than being man’s master, It must become his servant, ready and willing to carry out all of his commands. Once in this position, mind has taken its proper place in the cosmic scheme of things, allowing a higher mental center to conduct all of the directing and the ordinary intellect or mind to carry out all of the orders being issued to it.
“The highest that a man can attain is to be able to do.(…)
Never think of results, just do!”– G.I. Gurdjieff, Views from the Real World
You must also know and do if your ultimate objective is to be. If knowing is your primary goal, you must know as much as you can, do as much as you can, and be as much as you can. We will be able to appreciate what is involved in whatever we are doing or aim to accomplish more fully if we concentrate on both knowledge and being.
“If knowledge outweighs being a man knows but has no power to do. It is useless knowledge. On the other hand if being outweighs knowledge a man has the power to do, but does not know, that is, he can do something but does not know what to do. The being he has acquired becomes aimless and efforts made to attain it prove to be useless.(…)
Until a man has defined his own aim for himself he will not be able even to begin ‘to do‘ anything. How is it possible ‘to do‘ anything without having an aim? Before anything else ‘doing‘ presupposes an aim.””
– G.I. Gurdjieff, In Search of the Miraculous
Money
Money has become so significant in our lives because we rely on it solely for our psychological well-being. Food and shelter are the only necessities for survival, yet money is increasingly being spent on psychological needs rather than basic physical ones. It should go without saying that we require money for a variety of needs, including food, shelter, transportation, and family support. Money will continue to have an exaggerated and excessive significance as long as we psychologically depend on it for our personal well-being. When money fulfills our personal vanity and becomes a psychological necessity, we start using it for other things like gaining power, prestige, social standing, the desire to be at the top of the corporate ladder, making oneself known, and so on. Our concepts attribute money to a variety of different things in addition to providing our basic requirements.
It is reasonable that we need money to meet our physical needs, such as those for food and shelter, but if we exclusively rely on it solely to satisfy our desires for happiness and self-satisfaction, our trading behaviors will be directly impacted. Our ability to trade successfully can be hindered by emotions driven by a desire for money, such as greed, impatience, worry, doubt, envy, pride, and others.
We frequently attempt to make up for our inner poverty in the external world by acquiring material belongings. The ego, or “I,” experiences its own emptiness and anguish, which leads us to place an inappropriate value on material possessions. We typically have a greedy connection with money, which we always try to justify with the claim that it is a necessity.
“You say “I have a passion for an automobile, for money, etc.” – I say “what for?”
We cannot get far until we have classified ourselves as to type. I see before me many types, like a dog fancier at a show. The dog fancier sees newfoundlands , terriers, etc. I see those before me who personally wish to be, to do, to know. Which one is you essentially? Do you wish to be something more than you are? Do you wish to do something more than you do? Do you wish to know something more than you know?”
– C. Daly King, The Oragean Version
When we realize that money’s sole purpose is to meet our basic requirements, we may control our appetites and stop overtrading, having a fear of missing out, or closing positions too soon or too late. As long as we allow life to entice us with its promises of things that seem to be rewards for ambition, self-interest, greed, vindication, and all the other emotions and needs of the ego seeking satisfaction, we continue to be the slaves of deception, shackled hand and foot to it and by it. In light of this, it becomes clear that we are constantly being mislead by the impressions that our thoughts, feelings, and body give off. Our emotions, concerns, tension, and greed are constant agents of manipulating us. From this understanding, we can infer that the actions made when under these influences will result in more trading mistakes creating more pain and suffering. We make decisions based on ignorance and desire, ignoring our needs in favor of our wants. We are suffering today and will keep suffering because of this.
The Psychological Stumbling Blocks of Knowing Exact Tops and Bottoms
Doubt
The first barrier to overcome to becoming capable is doubt; you questioning yourself and believe that you are lacking in some way as a person. You don’t feel as though your body and mind are in sync or working together. You get the impression that something in your life is always being taken advantage of. Our basic doubt or anxiety about our ability to actually achieve something arises even when we believe we are doing our best in life and feel that we haven’t quite lived up to what we should be.
Doubt is the tendency of the ego to look for contradictions, especially when it feels threatened. The ego questions our approach, the conclusions of our analysis, the market’s trajectory, our rationale for remaining in a trade, and pretty much everything else. Sadly, since we lost sight of the Perceiver, we had to put up with the uncertainty. No matter how foolish or petty a doubt may be, we typically lack the ability to recognize it for what it is. Because of this, even the most successful traders eventually lose money. They have doubt raging through them.
“We know that what we see is incorrect, and we think of the world as being different from the way we see it. If we had no doubts about the correctness of our sight, if we knew that the world was such as we saw it, it stands to reason that we would think of it as we see it. In practice, however, we are constantly introducing corrections into what we see.”
– P.D. Ouspensky, Tertium Organum
Doubt has a great deal of power when we don’t have experience. The power of doubt belongs to those who do not train in Self-observation. When we stick to our practices, we gain experience, see the results of our work, and have facts to rely on. As a result, doubt is rendered powerless. After experiencing a fact, doubt is unable to dispute it. However, skepticism may be very powerful if you have never had such experiences. Lack of experience with the facts leads to a pendulum of disequilibrium where belief and disbelief alternate back and forth. Or, to put it another way, uncertainty is a mental construct made up of the poles of acceptance and rejection, craving and aversion, or yes and no. This dualism hypnotizes us and distorts our perception of reality.
Uncertainty isn’t always obvious. Since we aren’t conscious of it, we don’t always recognize that we have it. Our ego is quite crafty when it comes to doubt. The statement continues, “I’ve studied that system, and it’s quite fascinating, and I respect the concepts, but the people studying it don’t seem to be like the ones I see on Twitter.” That is how uncertainty feels. It serves as both an explanation and a justification. That’s something we do quite a bit. We are blissfully ignorant of how our thoughts influence our worldview. We merely rely on belief. We are completely oblivious to the fact that we are doing something incorrect. Doubt exists because we have trading beliefs that are incorrect, but we refuse to admit it. In general, we simply want to believe what suits our whims and desires, and anything that contradicts them is dismissed. Obviously, the more one uses the Holy Grail Method in their analysis, the more their doubts will seem to vanish.
“Now the intellectual life of a man is nothing but what he believes to be true and when this is assailed in any way, he feels anxiety. The more he values what he believes to be true the more anxiety will he feel when doubt enters his mind. This is a mild state of temptation, in which a man must think about what he believes and values as Truth and from it fight with his doubts.”
– Maurice Nicoll, The New Man
Fear
According to The Work, fear is the negative emotion that has the greatest foundational roots; it is the source of all other negative emotions. The illusory “I” seeks security in a world of impermanence; the ephemeral ego needs continuity and stability, which it is unable to offer for itself. As a result, fear is the ego’s main reaction to life and death. It devotes all of its efforts and energies to safeguarding its existence, even while we are utterly unaware of it. Fear is the biggest enemy of man; it clouds his vision, hinders his advancement, stifles his serenity and harmony, and drains his strength and vitality.
Fear is a desire for security in the transitory; the one who understands his Self will not seek security in the ephemeral. Fear arises from clinging to a person’s name and status. Fear arises from attachments to money and objects. The person who says “mine” is the one who is afraid.
“There is fear from duality.” (Non-duality alone is fearless). – Brih. Up. 1. 4.2
“Brahman is fearless; one who knows this, becomes the fearless Brahman.” – Brih. Up. IV. 4. 25
Many years ago, my wife and I camped at Sonoma National Park. We slept the night in a tent at a wonderful designated public campsite about 20 feet from our car. Around midnight, I heard a growling sound extremely near by, which I quickly identified as coming from an animal that was circling the tent. Naturally, my thoughts began to race with scenarios: was this a bear, small or large, cougar, or bobcat, and if so, would it rip through the flimsy tent material separating us? I had a combination of helplessness, uncertainty, horror, anguish, threat, worry, and defeat at the same time.
My breathing became labored, my stomach started to turn, and my limbs started to tremble as my body went into defense mode, as though it were gearing up for a ferocious battle or a hasty getaway. The animal proceeded to pace around the tent for nearly an hour while growling increasingly louder until it shrieked like a wild cat.
In an effort to scare this wildcat away, I finally had the bright idea to activate the car alarm. Instead of it’s intended purpose, as the sound woke up the nearby campers, we could hear someone getting inside and starting their vehicle. The truck came to our help, pulling up next to the tent and illuminating us with its lights. We yelled at them, “Is it safe to come out? Do you see the cougar anywhere nearby?” because we were unable to see outside the tent. They instructed “No, come out, it’s safe.” I started unzipping the tent with all the strength I could muster to thank them for their help.
Even though it was safe to proceed, my thoughts raced with worries like “was the cougar hiding in a tree waiting to pounce on us, and how far do I have to sprint to the car if it starts after us” My body was in shock, my nerves were strained, and when I approached them to express my gratitude, I was trembling and my teeth were chattering as if I were abandoned in a freezing lake.
I thought about this experience for years, trying to understand why it was given to me and what I was supposed to learn and take away from it. Finally, when my mind was quiet and calm—that is, when I was free of thoughts, desires, opinions, and so forth—the truth finally dawned on me. Every form of fear comes from a place of ignorance and delusion. Well-known psychologists have erroneously claimed that fear is necessary for survival, citing instances like how it helps us get ready to run away from a wild animal, etc.
But I can assure you that even though it was the most horrifying and agonizing hour of my life, I now recognize and understand that every one of my thoughts, feelings, and actions were incorrectly spent in that hour. Because I anticipated being assaulted and battling for my life, which never occurred, those thoughts, sentiments, and sensations didn’t prepare me for anything other than my own suffering and confusion. I can guarantee you that I would have handled anything drastic that did happen with clarity if I hadn’t been held hostage by the ego of fear. At the moment, I was unable to recognize the reality of what just “was.”
“Just as the person who regards a rope as a snake is overcome by fear, so also one considering oneself as the ego (Jiva) is overcome by fear. The ego-centric individuality in us regains fearlessness by realising that It is not a Jiva but is Itself the Supreme Soul.(…)
I am other than the body and so I am free from changes such as birth, wrinkling, senility, death, etc. I have nothing to do with the sense objects such as sound and taste, for I am without the sense-organs.
I am other than the mind and hence, I am free from sorrow, attachment, malice and fear, for “HE is without breath and without mind, Pure, etc.”, is the Commandment of the great scripture, the Upanishads.”
– Adi Sankaracharya, Atma Bodha
Fear is a destructive force. It is powerless in the face of the positive virtue of courage. Are you utilizing a stop-loss in a specific location or not using one at all because you’re afraid of losing money? Whichever option you take, the majority of decisions made out of fear will almost certainly fail. Fear is the cause of negative effects.
Being fearless means expanding our horizons beyond what our five senses can perceive. We are continuously hunting for padding to prevent ourselves from colliding with many of the world’s perceived dangers. Learning to be fearless requires practice.
Finding fear is the first step on the journey to being fearless. We often experience situations that make us apprehensive, terrified, or even petrified. We have a stepping stone in the form of this pervasive unease that allows us to cross our fear. In order to cross the line from cowardice to bravery, we must take a firm action and if we do it well, our cowardice has bravery on the other end.
“The psychology of our ordinary conversational language knows very well that malice, hatred, anger BLIND a man, DIM his reason; it knows that fear DRIVES ONE INSANE, and so on and so on.”
– P.D. Ouspensky, Tertium Organum
Greed
Typically, we behave out of a form of yearning that has arisen, which is based on greed. Generally speaking, want and greed serve as our compass. We constantly want and hope for things we desire, but why?
Because of ignorance, failing to recognize the effects of greed or its influence or strength.
The majority of people are oblivious when greed manifests; only when it is really severe, like lust, such that it cannot be concealed, can we genuinely recognize it, even though it constantly dominates our day-to-day life. The majority of our thoughts are focused on things we want.
“Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth destroyeth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
– Luke 12:33-34
The drive to gain more is greed. Any resource can be the target of greed; it’s not just about money. We must understand that because everything has always been provided for us, we have never needed anything. Jesus answered, “Look at the lilies of the field and the birds of the air; they do not worry about what they will eat or wear, and God clothed them and looks after them completely.” “Do you know how much more God loves you than birds and flowers?” Do you realize how much more deeply God loves you than a bird or a flower? Who do you feel needs more inside of you? God will take care of your needs, including food and clothing.
Greed is likely to surface whenever there is a pleasing sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch. As long as we harbor greed without even realizing it, it will demand that we grant its wants, undertake searches, and point us in the direction of that which we are seeking. Therefore, until one recognizes that greed is motivating, dictating, and driving us, and unless one is aware of the negative effects of greed, one will never attempt to defeat this principal foe. Everything that greed is aroused by, more ignorance and pain are drawn to it like a magnet.
“Wealth is not welfare, truly there is no joy in it. Reflect thus at all times. A rich man fears even his own son. This is the way of wealth everywhere.”
– Bhaja Govindam
Selfish desire for a material good leads to the sacrifice of spiritual wealth in order to obtain the desired item, which is likely to be of little and fleeting value. Because selfish desire prioritizes material items over knowledge and personalities over principles, it diminishes the sense of value and clouds our vision. As a result, greed leads us to make inaccurate and skewed cycle predictions and execute orders that we shouldn’t have based on the extravagant amount of funds that we anticipate from it.
Greed involves grabbing, wanting, and trying to obtain. Generosity, giving, and sharing what we have with others can change it. For this, we must set aside who we are and replace ourselves with the world. There is nothing wrong with wanting everyone to be happy and at peace; the problem begins when our desires are selfish and only serve our own interests rather than those of others or the interests of truth. Our desires mature and become less selfish when we seek things that we can share with others. If we want to foster a sense of community as a whole we should forget our ‘I’ in the service of all by putting others before ourselves and sacrificing our own interests in order to serve them. If we want to be free of confusion and misery, we must stop craving and practice contentment and selflessness and be satisfied with what we have.
“Alchemy in reality studies metaphysical metallurgy, i.e. the operations which Nature works in living beings; the deepest science of life was here hidden under strange symbols. . . .
But such immense ideas would burst brains that were too narrow. Not all alchemists were geniuses. Greed attracted to Alchemy men who were looking for gold, who were alien to any esotericism; they understood everything literally, and their follies often knew no bounds.
From this fantastic kitchen of vulgar charlatans came modern chemistry. But true philosophers, worthy of the name, lovers or friends of wisdom, carefully separated the fine from the coarse, with caution and foresight, as was required by the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus…”
-Oswald Wirth, L’imposition des mains et la Médicine philosophale
Impatience
Nothing is achieved instantly or quickly, and everything has its own development process. Future and past concepts are only symptoms of a mind that is not present and aware of the present moment; and it is this ignorance that creates our impatience.
Even when you’re wandering about and doing other activities, when you first enter a trade, you may experience impatience. Analyze that impatience “Why should I be irritable? So what if the market goes sideways? What can I do if it isn’t going to my target right now? What am I going to get out of my impatience? What will I benefit by getting rid of my impatience? What will I gain by ceasing to feed it?”
“When Christ told his disciples of the sufferings that they would have to endure when they taught the Word, he said to them: “In your patience ye shall win your souls. ” The Greek word for patience means “staying behind” which can be interpreted as not going with one’s desires, not going with oneself. By this means a man can lose his soul on one level and find it again at a higher level.”
– Maurice Nicoll, The New Man
We must understand that if we have the habit of impatience and keep working on strengthening it, it will grow. We are giving it energy, so it will flourish. Being impatient and patient at the same time is impossible; it would be like mixing oil and water. All of the energies that are circulating through us at the time when we are impatient and identify with it reinforce that habit by feeding it. However, if we take the time to Self-observe, to think about, evaluate, and assess ourselves, we might decide to cultivate the opposing character of patience in ourselves.
“Patience is the mother of will.” – G.I. Gurdjieff
As we start to think about and make an effort to comprehend the quality of patience, also known as peace and acceptance. When we do this, impatience is disempowered and diminishes, while acceptance starts to be nurtured and used. They may clash because the two cannot ultimately coexist, but with practice, the patience becomes stronger and the impatience lessens. Every other aspect of our disposition is similar.
There are a variety of methods that claim to help us become more “successful traders,” depending on the approach and its goals. However, any system that does not support the technique of Self-observation or passive Self-awareness will be unable to assist us in achieving true success since it will not address the root of our difficulties. Without Self-observation, we can never hope to be totally effective, and true psychological development is only attainable through Self-knowledge. Man must transform from what he is to become what he can be. The greatest enemy is yourself, not the market makers, the institutions, or the “man”.
In conclusion, success in trading depends on our ability to comprehend and control our own egos working throughout our psychology. These lessons on doubt, fear, greed, and impatience might help us understand how to detect and control these negative emotions, thoughts and behaviors. We can become more experienced and confident traders by increasing our Self-awareness, self-discipline, and clarity of our aims. Keep in mind that trading is a journey rather than a destination, and that the road to success begins with an unobstructed mindset and a methodical approach.
There you have it—a lesson in trading psychology drawn from the teachings of the Fourth Way. Always keep in mind that trading is about more than just numbers and charts; it’s also about knowing yourself and your own psyche. Applying the concepts we covered in this course can help you better understand your own behavior and improve your trading decisions.
“I will tell you one thing that will make you rich for life. There are two struggles: an Inner-world struggle and an Outer-world struggle…you must make an intentional contact between these two worlds; then you can crystallize data for the Third World, the World of the Soul.”
– G.I. Gurdjieff